The assembly held a workshop Oct. 27 to discuss a strategic plan for road work in town. The Public Works Department has been working to prioritize street projects based on which ones need it the most. Now, the department has a new grading system that will help them do just that.
“Ultimately, our goal here with this is: How do we better identify the project costs and try to plan for these things over time and year in year out?” Public Works Director Tom Wetor told the assembly.
To address the question, Wetor and his team have expanded an existing basic road inventory to account for the infrastructure affecting the overall condition of the road and cost to repair. This includes utilities like water and sewer pipes, underground fiber optic cables and surface condition.
They said they used metrics like when the pipes were installed, the material the pipe was made of and number of recorded water main breaks to determine the urgency of replacement.
The new road inventory also includes a general estimated cost for each component of the repair and the overall project cost.
Based on the updated inventory, work in 2027 could include Cow Alley — estimated to cost $5.5 million — and work on the sewer line running beneath the stairs between Church Street and Front Street, likely to be done in-house, according to Wetor.
