Major Repaving of State Highways Last Summer Helped

By Kurt Steele

Every day most Norfolk residents drive on some part of Norfolk’s nearly 60 miles of roads—43 miles of it maintained by the town and 16 by the state. They are joined a little less often by Norfolk’s many part-time residents.

Having enough money to keep those roadways in good condition has always been a big challenge.

One bright spot was the state’s major repaving of routes 44 and 272 within Norfolk this summer—9.4 miles in all. Connecticut’s highway construction budget of $800 million in 2014, announced by DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker earlier this year, was the largest in recent years and fully $500 million more than in 2012.

First Selectman Sue Dyer said, “Norfolk was indeed well taken care of after many years of the state spending very little on its state highways within Norfolk. We estimate that the state’s expense for the repaving was about $2.5 million. We are also appreciative that the state increased its state aid to Norfolk in 2014 for local roadways to $250,000 from $120,000 two years ago.”

She added, “Of course, we can’t expect that the state will continue to fund at the 2014 levels for state and town repaving. Among other things, there may be significant reductions after 2014 in federal transportation funds to states.”

Unfortunately, even with the very large 2014 state increase in aid for Norfolk’s local roadways, the actual town roadway budget fell to $415,000 from $475,000 two years ago. Dyer explained, “The Public Works budget was reduced as part of across-the-board town budget cuts at the direction of the town’s Board of Finance so that the overall 2014-15 town budget would be flat against the prior year.”

Increasingly, the likelihood of Norfolk having a well-built and well-maintained local roadway system appears out of financial reach. Although not much comfort, that’s the state of affairs for most of the nation’s roadways as they deteriorate with age due to a lack of sufficient federal, state and local funding.

Dyer said, “Like those in many old New England towns, Norfolk’s town-paved roads were originally built on old dirt roads with little consideration for drainage or grade and with rather primitive macadam materials. Unfortunately, it was common for the town’s roadways to be poorly maintained and used well past their life cycle. And when they were in very dire need of being rebuilt, in many cases they were just cheaply paved over instead of being rebuilt following affordable best practices.”

Today proper rebuilding does not come cheap. John Allyn, supervisor of Norfolk’s Public Works Department, estimates that the current cost to properly rebuild one mile of rural roadway is about $180,000—more if there are drainage or other structural problems, which is not uncommon. The good news is that Dyer and Allyn have diligently followed affordable best practices when rebuilding roadways.

During the past five years, 13 miles of town roadways have been rebuilt. According to Allyn, those roadways should have a lifespan of five to seven years if properly maintained, which is current policy.

“Right now,” Allyn said, “about half of the town’s paved roadways have been rated as in poor or fair condition.” Although there is no professional engineer’s assessment of the cost to rebuild those roadways, Dyer and Allyn set a ballpark estimate today at $3 million.

This year one mile of Ashpohtag Road was rebuilt, and expensive culvert drainage work was done around town. The repaving schedule for 2015 will not be determined until after the 2015-2016 town budget is finalized in April.

Public Works is now focused on getting ready for Norfolk’s winter: stockpiling salt and making sure all equipment is in good condition.

According to John Allyn of Norfolk’s Public Works Department, the town’s roads are being repaved too slowly to prevent deterioration. Photo by Bruce Frisch.