Selectman’s Corner

By Matt Riiska

The downside of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on road repair is that everyone seems to think it’s so that you can increase your speed. You might even think that we repair the roads strictly for your benefit so you can leave your house later than you should and drive as fast as you can to get to a very important appointment such as grocery shopping. We do not. We repair the roads mainly to keep them safe and comfortable to drive on without ruining your car. We also repair them so when we are doing our winter maintenance we do not ruin our plow trucks that cost close to $200,000 each.

Each week I receive numerous inquiries about adding speed bumps and “YOUR SPEED IS” signs. These items are not cheap. A set of speed bumps can cost $2,000. A “YOUR SPEED IS” sign can cost $5,000. What a waste of money!  I have an idea: SLOW DOWN. I can tell you that if we purchased as many speed bumps and signs as requested, we could spend over $100,000. As the price of everything goes up, including road and equipment repair expenses, we need to conserve our funds as best we can.

So, for all of you who are using Ashpohtag Road as a quick way to get to Route 44, SLOW DOWN! For everyone who thinks Loon Meadow Drive is a racetrack to Route 44, KNOCK IT OFF!

I was recently asked when the Mountain Road bridge would be open. It will be very soon, but we are thinking that it might be nice to keep it closed. I can only imagine how fast people will drive on a freshly paved road. Do I have to say it again? SLOW DOWN.

If you have the “need for speed,” contact Skip Barber Racing at Lime Rock Park. Having driven hundreds of laps at Lime Rock in SCCA races, I’m sure you will thoroughly enjoy it, you will be doing it in a safe environment and it will help you in your regular driving. Our roads are not racetracks.

So, for now, SLOW DOWN. 

Take care and stay healthy.