Selectmen Approve $327K Sand Hill Road Improvements Project

The Board of Selectmen approved funding to reconstruct a portion of Sand Hill Road not included in the town’s 2013 Road Improvement Program.

Selectman Stephen Campbell voted against the project, saying he has trouble supporting the additional road improvements without the voters’ explicit support.

“We could have put this as part of the article,” he said. “I have a problem doing things without people’s permission.”

The total cost of the road improvements is $327,000, which is to come from the Roadway Capital Reserve Fund.

Town Manager Keith Hickey told the board there is $919,000 in the fund, which the board may also consider using to fund road improvements on South Shore Road in 2014.

The Sand Hill Road improvements will be completed as part of a larger project in the area, which Engineering Director Robert Puff said would be more cost effective than completing the project separately in the future.

“There’s certainly economy in doing this with the larger project,” he said. “If we did this individually it would be quite substantial. The second low bid for this project is about 15 percent more.”

In addition to the Sand Hill Road improvements, the board considered the costs of reconstructing and extending water and sewer to South Shore Road.

Hickey told the council the cost of road reconstruction and drainage would be about $1 million; the cost to extend sewer about $1.2 million; and the cost to extend water about $774,000.

South Shore Road, which isn’t scheduled for road improvements until 2020, is in desperate need of repair, according to George Abraham of 22 South Shore Road, who noted he and his neighbors will have been waiting for the improvements for about three decades if they aren’t moved up in the schedule.

“I request this project be updated to 2014 and in the interim for this year have something more successful than patches completed on the road,” said Abraham, noting the improvements are “necessary now.”

“We have problems with trucks coming down our road and the shoulder is gone. Police have had to come down there because trucks couldn’t turn around,” he said. “Put South Shore Road in the improvement plan for next year. We have been very patient.”

Hickey said he believes even just reconstruction of South Shore Road in 2014 is unrealistic.

“The engineering work still needs to be done and permits need to be applied for,” he said. “I don't know if South Shore Road would be first one I’d do. But there’s no question it’s in rough shape.”

The board agreed they would like to see a survey of the neighborhood, which includes about 50 residential homes, to gauge interest in the proposed water and sewer extension.

Additionally, the board wants to review the Paving Construction Index (PCI) for town roads, to be released in May, before making any decisions regarding changes to the town’s road improvements plan.

With Sand Hill Road improvements approved, there is $592,000 remaining in the Roadway Capital Reserve Fund.