Town plan for maintenance of local roadways: a little repaving, a lot of pothole repair

April 11, 2014
by Anthony Vaccaro, New Castle Commissioner of Public Works

I maintain a comprehensive road rating system to rank roads based on their traffic volume and extent of deterioration.  I have tried over the years to distribute road resurfacing projects equitably throughout our Town addressing the highest-ranked roads, within our yearly budget.  Our budget this year can support paving two to three miles. (The town has 120 miles of road, or 240 lane miles.)  This year’s focus should be the westerly part of Town.  Spring Valley Road is a high priority and is currently being considered by FEMA for grant money as part of their Hazard Mitigation program.  I am hoping to hear from them soon so the Town can decide where to spend its road paving budget.

With regard to potholes, we prepare our repair list on a daily basis, according to location, severity, extent, and weather.  Roads having the highest traffic generally have the greatest priority.  Up until last week our pothole repair crews relied upon their “hot-box” which is essentially an oven on wheels, to produce hot-asphalt material and also traveling to the Bronx to get plant produced hot-mix material.  This material is far superior to traditional cold mix that the Town used to use, was difficult to put down in bulk, and never seemed to hold up.

This week our local asphalt mix plant opened which will help significantly.  I am also very happy to report that the Town Supervisor was very supportive of purchasing a second hot-box which will enable the highway department to double its output when asphalt plants are closed.  Local asphalt plants are typically closed when pothole season starts.  So this will make a notable difference next year.

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Related:  Residents, send location and photo of potholes to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), NCNOW.org, 3/28/14


Comments(2):
We encourage civil, civic discourse. All comments are reviewed before publication to assure that this standard is met.

You do a wonderful job. For the 25 years I have lived here, I generally see repair crews more often in North Castle than in New Castle. Just an observation. Thank you for your good work

By Dear Mr Vaccaro on 04/12/2014 at 9:25 am

Every day I wait to see some sign that at least some of the potholes on Route 117 are on the schedule and will be filled.  Any news on whether or when work will be done there?

Editor’s Note:  Spring, 2014, according to the State DOT.

By Waiting on 04/16/2014 at 12:55 pm


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