Select board members requested a work list from the highway department to keep up with the paving schedule and prioritize projects according to need and cost. East Warren Road and Inferno Road are among the roads cited for potential resurfacing.
Town officials said the highway department has indicated that if Roxbury Mountain Road was paved it would take place in three sections: from the intersection of the road with Senor Road, from Senor Road to the end of the first pavement, and from Burbank’s corner to the look-out.
Department of Public Works Director Barry Simpson said there is a lot of work to be done on existing town highways before paving can begin, mainly culvert replacements on East Warren Road.
“There are nine culverts to change on the East Warren Road. Whether we pave it or not this year we still have to do the culverts,” Simpson said.
Select board member Bob Ackland asked whether the worst roads should be targeting and additional funding be directed to the Sugarbush Access Road paving project slated for this summer.
Select board chair Andy Cunningham said he is “prepared to do that and bite that bullet.”
In terms of order, Cunningham said there wasn’t a lot of work scheduled for west Warren. “We might want to do a piece of Roxbury Mountain Road and move over to Inferno Road to spread the love around so the same people aren’t hitting the same potholes all the time.”
Ackland said the cost to repave Inferno Road is estimated at $382,000.
Simpson called the list “very enthusiastic” considering the regular culvert work and routine summer road maintenance.
“We don’t want to get ourselves in a position where we put in the last culvert the day before paving; it’s a lot to orchestrate,” Simpson said.
Cunningham said, “I want to fix the roads we’ve got before adding more paved roads; the better you make those the less traffic you get on the Dump Road.”
Ackland reminded town officials of the previous agreement with Sugarbush to inspect the Access Road this spring.
“A lot of repair needs to be made. We want to make sure there is some contribution from somewhere; there is going to be a personnel change shortly so the sooner we meet the better,” Ackland said.
When asked about the status of Roxbury Mountain Road that has been closed to thru traffic for nearly two weeks, Simpson said the town of Roxbury was strongly advised to close the road after a serious accident.
The road reopened on Tuesday afternoon, according to Warren Road Foreman Raemon Weston.
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