Hole-y Roads! Potholes Replace Snow and Ice [Update]

Update: 7:20 p.m.

First Selectman Jeb Walker tipped us off to what might be the largest pothole in town. It's on the drive to the drop off mailboxes across from the Post Office.

"You could lose your car in it," Walker told Patch. "The funny thing is that a road  looks fine today and tomorrow mornig you’ve got a two-foot-wide pothole."

Original Story

In a confluence of “worst” possible conditions, recent daytime thaws and nighttime freezes are creating potholes in town, and the weather reports don’t hold out  hope for an end to the conditions anytime soon.  

The roads that have taken the worst beating were already on the schedule for re-paving in 2011, said Assistant Director of , Tiger Mann.  As the enormous piles of snow melt, the water gets beneath the pavement patches, then freezes.

“Temperatures come up, we have freeze-thaw conditions with a lot of rain and snow melt. Those are not good things to have right now, this early in the year,” Mann told Patch. “In the spring without the freezing the roads could take all the rain.”

Mann said last year was bad, but this is even worse. 

“Last year the director of pavement management for the state said to expect to have a lot more deterioration of the road network based on weather,” Mann said. “That was last year with numerous freeze-thaws. We saw a lot of problems last year, but this year with the everywhere, it’s much worse." 

“Have you seen Main Street?” Mann asked.

Mann said Main St. is “number one “ on the list of roads to be paved this year. He said the following roads are also on the 2011 schedule, subject to approval by the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance and the Town Council:

• Old Norwalk Road
• Woodland Road
• Elm Place
• Kelley Green
• Orchard Lane
• Selleck Place
• Crystal St.
• Grace St.
• Thrush Lane
• Shagbark Drive
• Overlook Drive

Mann said the heaving on brick sidewalks is to be expected. They are designed to allow water to percolate into the base, he said, but the thaw-freeze cycles are taking their toll this year.  Mann said the sidewalks should  “settle back down by spring,” although some might not settle perfectly.

The DPW is not waiting until spring to deal with the problem, making temporary repairs to potholes brought to their attention by residents, as well as those they find on their own as they inspect local roads. 

“We do go out and we’ll be pothole patching," Mann said. "We were pothole patching two weeks ago and even last week -- in between shoveling. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a matter of living in New England. It’s the way it is.”