Civil engineer Travis Noyes will give a 20-30 minute presentation on a much discussed Newcastle roads project estimated to cost around $1.5 million to taxpayers at the annual town meeting on March 30.
At the March 23 Board meeting, Newcastle selectmen reviewed their decision for a proposed road repair project which includes Academy Hill Rd., Stone Bridge Circle, the Lynch Rd. and drainage projects.
The engineer will review other proposals presented to the town to demonstrate how much time, thought and debate has been put into the project, now two years in the running. Noyes expects to have a slide presentation along with photographs to demonstrate the various issues detailing road repair and reconstruction.
“When you look at the condition of roads, there’s a point where they can be saved and a point where they can’t be saved,” Noyes said during the meeting. “There’s a point where you can’t let your roads go any further. You could, but it’s going to cost a lot more money.”
The Board had initially asked for a long-term capital roads project following January budget workshops to repair 20 miles of Newcastle’s roads. The initial proposed project would have cost $3.7 million, which was later reduced to $1.5 million as Noyes and the Board focused on the plan they have now. The Board decided to narrow the focus to Academy Hill Rd., Lynch Rd., Stonebridge Circle and drainage projects at their March 9 meeting.
Selectman Art Mayers said he believes there is an error in what the town has for funding the project. He said there should be just over $180,000 in excess town funds that can be put toward road projects. Newcastle administrator Ron Grenier said he would check with the town auditor to verify town financial figures.
According to Grenier, the town will need to borrow roughly $1 million. On Tuesday, Grenier said the town has carry forward funds from an unused funds account in excess of $526,000 to make up the difference. Registered voters will decide whether or not to approve an article in the warrant asking to borrow the $1 million for the project. Noyes said the cost for the proposed project includes permitting and engineering.
Noyes will cover some history of the project and some basic components to a healthy road. The components include the structure of the road, the various layers included in road construction (called subgrade), the sides of roads (shoulders) and drainage.
Noyes said he and Newcastle road commissioner Don Hunt conducted road assessments to provide data to support any proposed work. They found some sections of roads in town that need routine maintenance, such as patching potholes and maintaining ditches, and other roads requiring complete reconstruction.
They ranked roads based on the severity and extent of cracking, potholes, roughness and determined what drainage issues are of concern to the health of roads.
“Drainage is one of the most important part of your roads,” Noyes said during his conversation with selectmen, revealing that work ensuring proper drainage will ultimately extend the life of a road.
Working closely with Hunt, Noyes assessed areas that get the most traffic. The various cost estimates for maintenance, high and medium recommendations are based on Dec. 2008 road construction costs, Noyes said.
Resident Rob Martin asked the engineer if he and Hunt conducted traffic counts, to which Noyes said, “no.” Noyes added he and Hunt found the most heavily traveled roads based on historical data and from the assessment they conducted.
As illustrated on an information sheet, which is intended to be included in a slide presentation at town meeting, some of the high priority projects include the North Newcastle Rd. and Stonebridge Circle, among others.
Topographical maps showing the roads proposed to be worked on and a schematic of a typical road section will accompany the engineer’s presentation. Selectmen are busy making plans for town meeting. Implied from the conversation at the meeting, selectmen indicated satisfaction in pursuing the project in hopes of gaining voter approval.
As Board Chair Ellen McFarland put it, the selectmen have spent a lot of time bringing the project to this point.
