Aberdeen reworking road program

ABERDEEN — Township officials have decided to prioritize roads in need of repair after falling a year behind on the road program,

Previously, roads were mapped for a specific year. However, the new plan will designate roads in the worst condition be done first.

“This will not change how many roads will get done but I think that it will be easier to get the worst roads first,” Holly Reycraft, township manager, said in an interview on Jan. 20.

She explained that this new procedure will be more fair to residents since it will not designate a specific time when the roads will get done.

“We found that if there was a bad winter or there was bad traffic on one road, then we would end up moving roads around and people would be upset because they thought their roads would be done that year,” Reycraft said.

“This is not going to tell a person that it will get done in this year and then they are disappointed because it does not go through this year because of other issues.”

Reycraft revealed that the township is still working on the 2010 road program due to delays.

“We had to go out to re-bid. The original bid came in too high,” Reycraft said. “Then it has to be advertised, you have to wait, then you have to bid, and then it has be awarded, etc.”

The township is still designing the 2011 road program and has yet to go to bid, she said .

Reycraft said that much of the roadwork depends on funding.

“We always have funds for the road program but depending on the budget and what is going on and the price of asphalt, that makes all the difference,” she said.

She added the township does put aside funds for emergency situations but the road program also is affected by weather conditions.

“We couldn’t even start the road program with all the snow during the last couple of years,” she said.

Due to a tighter budget, work on roads fell further behind.

“If we would have said that we were going to do six roads and didn’t have money and could only do three or four, [we had to decide] which ones we were going to take out. This way it is all prioritized,” she said.

The Township Council acknowledged delays in the road program during the Jan. 17 meeting in response to a resident’s complaint.

Edward Fitzgerald, of Bank Street, complained that the road encroaches on his property and has yet to be repaired.

“We are just not talking about a bumpy road here. We are talking about a road that encroaches on my property,” Fitzgerald said .

The mayor explained that a state cap on tax increases had contributed to the delay.

“We have fallen behind because of economic reasons. We couldn’t bond [to fund repairs to] as many roads as we would have liked to and we have a two percent cap from the state,” Tagliarini said. “The book has been scratched and you will be shown a new book next week.”

Fitzgerald asked the council if they could project when his road would get done.

“It wasn’t too long ago that I was here and nobody knew that they were going to be looking at the road book again,” he said.

Councilman Gregory Cannon said that re-evaluation of the road program began in the summer.

“You were the impetus for us to look at this all over again. You were here in April and we started this in June,” Cannon said. “We understand your frustration but there are 20,000 other residents who are asking when their roads will get done. We can only do so many a year and we have to prioritize.”

Fitzgerald said that his road is a priority.

“How many other encroachments are there in town? I would think that would fall under some priority,” he said. “The logical proposition is to move the road so that I can fully enjoy what is mine.”

However, Reycraft explained in the interview that would be an expensive endeavor for the township.

“To undo his encroachment means we have to reconstruct that road,” she said. “We are aware of it and we are going to address it when we get to the road.”

Since roadwork is designated by priority, residents including Fitzgerald may have to wait longer for their roads to be fixed.

“It depends. Just because a road was on for that year, there may have been a worse road somewhere else,” Reycraft said.