Seymour Selectmen Talk Road Repairs

Screen Shot From YouTube

Members of the Board of Selectmen in Seymour check out a list of roads that need work.

SEYMOUR — Some much-needed repairs to deteriorating roads like the heavily traveled Seymour Avenue are slated to begin over the next few months.
Town Engineer Bryan Nesteriak unveiled a proposed $2.3 million road rehabilitation plan for 2021 during the Board of Selectmen’s Feb. 2 meeting.

The board is expected to vote on the plan during its next meeting Feb. 16. 

In the meantime, board members plan to individually tour the roads in line for a fix so they can see firsthand the condition of the roads, and give some input to Nesteriak.

In addition to Seymour Avenue, which spills on and off to Route 8, the roads in line for a variety of fixes — ranging from full repaving and milling to drainage and patching — include Shelton Street, Pershing Avenue, Eleanor Road, Highland Avenue, Buckingham Road, Middle and North Benham roads, Spruce Brook Road, Great Meadow Road, Elm Street, Moss Avenue and Mountain Road. 

In addition, there are numerous sidewalks throughout town, many with big gaps like on Maple Street and Washington Avenue, that will also be fixed this year, under the rehab plan, according to Nesteriak.

The repairs, officials said, will be funded through a $5 million road improvement bonding program residents approved during a November 2019 referendum, along with use of some Local Capital Improvement Program, or LOCIP, money.

Under former First Selectman Kurt Miller, the town made road repairs a priority, each year chipping away at roads in the worst shape. 

Last year, several roads in the 42-year old Silvermine Industrial Park (many which hadn’t been seriously repaired since they were first built in the late 1970s), along with long overdue improvements to the dangerous intersection where Silvermine Road meets Route 67 received a makeover as part of the ongoing project.

Nesteriak said the roads proposed for fixes in this latest round of improvements are in pretty poor shape, given grades of Cs and Ds, for mediocre and poor” condition, respectively. 

Some roads, like Seymour Avenue and Eleanor Road (a major cut through for people to get to Route 67) are both heavily traveled and in line for full reconstruction, some drainage and curbing.”

Another problematic hot spot is Buckingham Road, which is off of Great Hill Road, where the lower portion that leads onto Route 34 is notoriously known for icing issues every winter, Nesteriak said. 

Other roads like Benham and Spruce Brook, while they’ve been chip sealed in the short term, haven’t had major work since the 60s and 70s, according to Nesteriak.

The bottom of Mountain Road, near Starbucks, is another heavily traveled, cut through road, Nesteriak said, and requires some heavy patching.”

Selectman Christopher Bowen said Nesteriak’s proposal couldn’t come at a better time, and is hopeful Seymour Avenue, which is at the top of the list, gets fixed sooner than later. 

It’s in very bad shape, Bowen said. It ices up where the road patches are coming up and needs heavy, heavy work. It’s a walking pothole.”

Nesteriak plans to present a list of the sidewalks due for repairs at the board’s next meeting. 

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