Charlie Breitrose
A road after being milled and prepared for overlay of new asphalt.
The road repair plan for the summer of 2014 hit a roadblock, so the Department of Public Works will focus on a new set of streets.
The new set of streets to be repaired are short in number, but some of the longer ones in town: Arlington Street, Orchard Street and School Street.
The streets will be repaired with the mill and overlay method, which grinds up the top layer of asphalt and lays down a fresh layer. The work will extend the life of the road by 7 to 15 years, said Councilor Cecilia Lenk, chairman of the Public Works Subcommittee.
The original list included these streets: Fifield Street, Avon Road, Alden Road, Salisbury Road, Priest Road, Loomis Avenue, Duff Street, Barnard Avenue, Lincoln Street, Dexter Avenue, Katherine Road and Cushman Street.
The obstacle came in the form of National Grid’s plan to do gas main repairs and upgrades, said DPW Superintendent Gerald Mee.
The town has a new policy not to repair road if gas main or water main work is expected in the next few years because it would damage the integrity of the repaired roadway.
Lenk said she would like to have a plan for next year, so the DPW knows which roads can be repaired. Right now the list of streets with planned gas main work is long, Mee said, with all but 18 miles of the town’s 85 miles of roadways on National Grid’s list.