This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Summer Road Repairs Heating Up

Here's a list and explanation of the upcoming road projects in Mansfield

Mansfield Town Meeting voters set aside money this year to begin repairs and reconstruction of streets throughout the town, a move Town Manager Bill Ross and selectmen have been insisting must happen to avoid complete breakdown of roads that have not been tended to in years.

This week, highway operations manager Mark Cook and interim town engineer Rick Alves sketched out plans before selectmen for a number of upcoming projects that will begin this month, and defined the kind of work townspeople can expect to see as the summer progresses.

The DPW will be hiring outside contractors to do crack sealing, chip sealing of of a dozen roads this year and next, and for the first time will begin to tackle roads in the town's subdivisions, many of which are now over 20 years old. In addition, one major project will renovate a section of Route 106 beginning in August.

Crack sealing is a process of blowing debris out of cracks in the blacktop, and pouring in a rubberized sealant that keeps water out of the crack, prolonging the life of the surface. Chip sealing is an overlay where heated asphalt liquid is laid down on the road surface, followed by a layer of small asphalt chips that set up as the layer cools, and traffic tamps it down. The chip seal process is about a quarter of the cost of an asphalt overlay, so communities often use it on major roads to prolong the life of the road until it needs a complete resurfacing.

The most expensive road repair is complete reclamation, but Cook told the board reclaiming all the bad roads in Mansfield would completely use up the approximately $2 million now being parceled out. The department needs to tackle the most important tasks first, and is just beginning to catch up with projects that have been put off for years because of financial needs in other parts of the budget.

The first projects will begin in the next two weeks, and include chip sealing of subdivision roads Shannon Lane, Pine Needle Lane, and Waldor Drive. The same process will begin on Wayside Drive, Old Saddle Road, and Black Pond Road. Residents are asked to move their cars out of the street by 6 a.m., and close windows on the street side of their homes. Loose stones from the chip sealing will be swept up by the town as they accumulate.

Otis Street in West Mansfield will be closed to through traffic from just beyond the Country Store to Gilbert Street beginning next week, while a trenching project conducted by the electric department is underway. Protective fencing has already been installed for Sweet's Pond. The trench is being dug the entire length of Otis Street to allow for the installation of underground conduit for wiring, and resurfacing of Otis Street will have to wait for the surface of the trench to even out.

Cook commented work by the gas company will hold up repairs of a number of roads as well.

"We were going to do Oakland but now Bay State Gas is going to be trenching," he said. "It would take two years for the trench to settle."

The gas company will also be working on Park Avenue, Linden Street, East Street, Eddy Street. "We can't go after full reconstruction on those streets," he said.

The most intense work will begin in August on Route 106 beginning at North Main Street and ending at Hope Street. The road will be leveled and milled, and then will receive a new coat of asphalt. The sidewalks will also be reconstructed - a project that will cost about $160,000 - and granite curbing will be reset. The whole process will last about a month.

The most technically complicated project will be at the intersection of Grove Street and West Street near the highway overpass, a location where there have been chronic drainage problems. That will not happen this year, said Town Manager Bill Ross, and maybe not for several years. "It's complex," he said. "It's more than a small project." Cook said it will require engineering and technical work before anything can begin.

To see a full preliminary schedule of road work planned for the next three years, including a printable color-coded map, see the DPW Web site.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Mansfield