At last night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, first selectman Lynne Vanderslice updated the board about the current schedule for road paving. She noted that Wilton’s Department of Public Works has been busy paving town roads this spring.
Since April, the following roads have been completed: Fairview Lane, Saunders Drive, Sugarloaf Drive, a portion of Highfield Road, Huckleberry Hill Road, Lovers Lane and Old Farm Road.
Currently, the following roads have been prepped and are ready for paving, which she says should begin next week, weather permitting: Cora Lane, Old Kingdom Road, Own Home Avenue, Silver Spring Road (north), Sunset Pass, Tall Oaks Road, Thunder Lake Road, and Wilridge Road.
Branch Brook Road and Drum Hill Road are now being prepped, with Belden Hill Rd. (south) scheduled for prep as soon as school lets out.
Vanderslice described what prep work is.
“The process begins with prep work which includes installation of new catch basins, drainage, etc. The Town’s outside contractor mills the roads and then applies the asphalt resurfacing which completes the road work. Wilton Public Works’ crews continue prepping the next set of roads scheduled and the cycle continues through late November, when the asphalt plants close for the winter season. Road prep and resurfacing resumes the following spring.”
Beyond the roads listed above that are being prepped and paved, there are 33 additional roads that are awaiting scheduling for paving this summer, fall or next spring.
[Editor’s note: A complete list of the status for roads on the current schedule is attached at the end of this article.]
The anticipated road paving schedule is posted on the Town of Wilton website.
At the town meeting in May, residents approved an increase in road paving from previous years’ 10 miles to 15 miles per year.
“These funds will be expended throughout this summer and fall and into next spring,” Vanderslice says.
She told GOOD Morning Wilton that last year the DPW provided a list of roads as they were being paved. This year officials have expanded the information on the website to include all the roads expected to be paved through the end of FY2018, which ends on June 30, 2018.
“I say expected because things can happen which might result in changes. Significant deterioration to a particular road over the winter. A Sandy type storm which puts paving on halt,” she adds.
Along those lines, Vanderslice says the town is aware that conditions on some roads not yet on the schedule may not be optimal.
“We recognize that there are many more roads beyond the 15 being paved this year that require repaving. Operationally and financially there is a limit to how many roads can be paved in one year. In any given year, we try to pave a mix of primary and secondary roads across the entire town. During the FY2019 budget process, we will consider the pace of the summer and fall paving and discuss whether there is an opportunity to further accelerate the pace of paving,” she says.
The BOS hopes to pave a total of 75 miles of roads during FY2018 thru FY2022. At that point, Vanderslice says, “virtually all roads in Wilton will be 10 years old or less.”
She suggests that any residents with questions about road paving should contact Wilton’s Department of Public Works at 203.563.0152.
At least our street made it to the “going to be scheduled list!” We’ve lived there since 1994 and it has never been paved while we’ve been here.