LETTER: Bethany Resident Thanks Town for Caring About its Roads

Have you ever been driving down the street and the oncoming car takes his or her half out of the middle? No big deal, right? It’s only not a big deal when your side of the road doesn’t have potholes one foot wide and five inches deep, and you don’t have low profile tires on your car.

Unfortunately, for me, that is exactly what happened on Friday two weeks ago. I was coming back from getting gas at our newly built gas station, I usually take Route 67 home but that was under construction so I took an alternate route home, Pole Hill Rd.

Whenever I drive my 1970 Camaro, I am very cautious of potholes, bumps, and anything on the side of the road that could come out into the road. She is my baby that I rebuilt with my own money and sweat.

Because this road is torn up, I usually go on the other side of the road, if safe, to avoid all of the craters that are in the road. Usually, I am the only one on the road, but this time that was not the case. A rather large pickup truck was in the oncoming lane, hugging the yellow line. Playing it safe, I and went closer to the side with the white line.

Worrying about the oncoming truck, I did not realize that I had lined myself up perfectly with a huge pothole. By the time I saw it, it was too late; I already slammed into the crater. It sounded like someone dropped a refrigerator next to me.

I assumed my tire went flat, but after pulling over, I realized it was more than that which could not be easily fixed with Fix-a-Flat; it would be a much more expensive repair. In fact, it is a $183.00 repair! I had come down into the hole so hard that my aluminum rim had been bent.

When I began writing this letter, it was intended to be a complaint letter. But as I started writing this, my boss told me that Pole Hill Road, the road that claimed my rim, was being torn up for repaving. Even though I am still mourning the loss of a solid rim, I am pleased to see that the town of Bethany cares about its roads and people.

To get to work, I drive through Naugatuck whose roads were destroyed by the past winter. Unfortunately, the town of Naugatuck only did the minimum by throwing some tar patch in their potholes.

By doing this, the roads were extremely uneven and to avoid the mounds of tar patch, I had to swerve within the lane to avoid any damage to my dad’s truck.

Bethany really impressed me with their awareness of the town’s issues and its people. Not only is the town fixing the problem, they are doing it to completion. They aren’t just throwing in tar patch to temporarily fix the problem; they are fixing the problem for years to come.