The Department of Public Works (DPW) is responsbile for the maintenance
of all town roads. Depending on the season, the town crew focuses
their energies on a variety of different responsibilites with
the overall goal of maintaining safe roads.
Summer Maintenance
The DPW maintains a busy schedule during the summer.
Much of the summer is devoted to road paving related work, but
DPW also does maintenance work. As soon as the weather and road
conditions allow DPW starts removing sand and gravel from paved
swales and paved ditches along roads. This usually requires hand
sweeping. When ice has melted in catch basins, DPW uses the vactor
truck to clean some catch basins. Snow plowing causes some damage
to lawns. In the spring, DPW will repair the worst cases, especially
where the driver plowed up sod too far off the road. Streets are
swept in May or early June to remove sand and gravel left from
winter maintenance.
Contractors perform many maintenance services during
the summer, including: painting road lines and other pavement
markings, filling road cracks, mowing roadside grass and weeds,
removing large trees, spreading liquid calcium chloride for dust
control, and installing guardrail.
Roadside ditching is another important and common
summer maitnenance job. Ditching is important to protect the road
bed, to keep water off of the road surface (and from icing in
the winter) and to keep water flowing towards its ultimate destination.
Gravel Roads
Every year the 5-Year Gravel Road Plan is updated. The plan lists
two types of work: 1) projects, which involve rebuilding the road
or other substantial work; and 2) top-dressing, which is adding
a couple inches of fresh gravel. Click here to view the 5-Year
Gravel Road Plan.
Gravel roads are graded several times per year.
Rough roads are graded when conditions permit in the spring. Roads
are graded a few days in advance of liquid calcium chloride being
spread for dust control (usually late May, early June). During
the summer roads are graded as needed to eliminate pot holes or
washboarding (rippled road) and gravel roads are graded in the
fall.
Summer Contruction
During the summer construction season, town highway
crews ensure all the prep work (raising/lowering manholes, constructing
apprpriate drainage systems, and generally facilitating road project
needs) is complete for road paving. The post pavement work is
yet another primary function of this department (e.e.: restoring
driveway aprons, shoulder work, and general roadway landscape
work).
Signs
Another responsiblity of the town highway department
is the installation of all signage on Town roads. The Traffic
Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC) makes recommendations for all
road signs. If you see a broken, vandalized, or missing sign,
please call the highway department. For a request of a new sign
to be posted, please call the Town Engineer's Office, the staff
contact for Traffic Safety
Advisory Committee (TSAC).
Winter Maintenance
In the winter, highway crews concentrate on keeping
roadways clear and safe. For the winter season, the highway department
has two people on duty at night to monitor road conditions and
to clear town and school properties for the morning commute. During
any given storm there are nine trucks out on the road plowing.
Crews are often working as early as 3 a.m. to make roads safe
for morning travel. The department spreads around 2,000 tons of
salt any given year on three different salt truck routes. Ongoing
work to keep the fire hydrants and bridges (Bridge Street - Snowbridge
Road) clear is also necessary.
It is important to note, that the town highway crews
make every effort to make roads safe and passable in the winter,
but often times due to a variety of factors (equipment problems,
exhaustion, severity of storm) the roads are in poor condtion.
During these storm events, please drive safely, obey the winter
parking ban, and be patient.
For your convenience, the Selectboard adopted a
free winter sand policy. This free sand is available to all
town residents for home use only. Please help yourself
and be considerate of your neighbors by taking only 2 or 3 buckets
at a time prior to storm events when there are no lines at the
garage. During storm events, often times the sand runs low
and disappears, so plan accordingly. The highway crews' top priorty
is to maintain town roads at these times, so they are given lenience
if the sand is not replaced. ATTENTION: Sand is available outside
the highway department gate, NOT inside the fence; anyone caught
inside attempting to take sand from the sand shet maybe cited
for unlawful trespass.
Infrasturcture Plans
Below are the Town's five year highway infrastructure
plans. These plans are developed by Town staff at the end of the
summer construction season and are based on a variety of factors.
in order for the town to pave an existing gravel road, it must
be a high traffic road, near existing pavement, and be a maintenance
problem. These infrastructure plans are important in stabilizing
your tax rate. Without these plans, unforseen road projects would
come up unexpectedly and cost more money to fix. These plans are
approved every year by the Selectboard.
The town highway department's commitment to safety and functionality
of Town property and infrastructure is truly what makes this department
so special.
