People driving through downtown Springfield should have a smoother ride. The worst sections of Main Street in Springfield have been re-paved.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140523/NEWS02/705239937
Main Street in Springfield gets the treatment with a fresh coat of pavement to take the place of the many of the potholes that have plagued drivers this spring. Photo: Photo by Len EmeryPublished May 23, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Main Street, Springfield, gets some relief By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — People driving through downtown Springfield should have a smoother ride. The town bit the bullet and hired a private paving contractor to put down a thin “skim” coat of hot mix on about half a mile of Main Street, to pave over the bumpy patchwork of potholes that has been plaguing drivers all winter — and spring — long. Springfield Town Manager Robert Forguites said Thursday that while he has applied for emergency funding for Main Street — which is technically a state highway as Routes 11 and 106 — he hadn’t heard anything. But he said he couldn’t wait any longer, and decided to have the worst stretches paved, and hope the state will come through. The new pavement was not curb-to-curb, but covered the travel portion of the highway. There was no grinding or removal of the rotten pavement, he said. Traffic was tied up for much of Wednesday as the crews from Springfield Paving did the work, he said. “The end result was smoother,” he said. He said he expected the cost of the so-called “skim coat” of hot mix to be between $30,000 and $35,000. “We haven’t gotten the bill yet,” he said. Spending the money was especially painful because the road is slated to get a major overhaul next year, to the tune of about $2 million, from the state Agency of Transportation. Under the plan, the road will be ground down and a new two-inch layer of hot mix applied. Town officials have said it’s been more than a dozen years since the last major repaving, which will start near Hospital Hill and go down Main Street and Clinton Street to the town’s sewage treatment plant. “We had to do something,” said Forguites, “to get the road smooth.” He said there is one manhole dip in the paving job near the intersection of Main Street with Valley Street, which he hoped could be made smoother. “We’ve patched some potholes, but there are so many potholes, you couldn’t really make it smooth. We had to do something,” he said.
OMG thank you, driving down street, was a fkn nightmare, not worth shopping when it might cost you your car
ReplyDeleteI guess Bob Forguites wants is last few months as town manager to be "smooth" ones!
ReplyDeleteIs an improvement, but raises a question. Exactly what standard and warranty of service is adhered to? Who writes the spec, and do they have any formal, civil engineering credentials?
ReplyDeleteThe previous job appears to have failed horribly relative to other roads with similar traffic. Was there any clause of liability for premature, resurfacing? Should we anticipate this fresh resurfacing to also fail having been done over a less than adequate existing surface?
Again this is a skim coat not a resurfacing, doesn't make sense to sink a lot into it when its getting redone next year. Wish people would read before they blogged
DeleteHey 1:01, your so concerned you should run for select board. Or just go to the town office and get the answers your looking for. In the time it took t post these valid questions, you could have had all your answers.
DeleteI think we should have worked another cow path instead.
ReplyDeleteWithout digging out the old road bed and installing something new, well engineered and constructed, this skim coat will fail. but - thanks Springfield for taking action!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's already been acknowledged, but in lieu of sufficient funding for a comprehensive job, the town has provided you with a sleek, smooth, but rather temporary, main boulevard!
DeleteThis was probably orchestrated by the state to get the town by until they get around to repairing it. Which they won't do much more than add more asphalt to fail. As noted above, unless ground up, reworked based installed, and proper asphalt thickness installed, it won't hold up well. But the State only owns the top 2 inches within the town limits (aka between the "State throughway begins" signs, so the rest of the work would be on the shoulders of Springfield to pay. Don't see that happening any time soon.
ReplyDeleteif they stop cutting the paving budget maybe more roads could get paved
ReplyDeleteNow if they would only clean up the scum hanging out in front of the Woolson block!
ReplyDeletestop complaining and be happy it is better even if for a short time. The way it was is just horrible.
ReplyDeleteStop complaining about the complainers. Apparently you don't understand that the decades of perpetual failings by Springfield's town government and economic developers are responsible for the high rate of dissatisfaction among the citizenry. Until the town demonstrates that it can grow and sustain itself through promoting a strong and viable private sector economy, the "complainers" have every right to he heard!
DeleteComplaining gets you nothing. Townspeople have been complaining about everything for two years, have you seen anything change. Where are the voters?
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