Detailed Road Condition Assessment to Begin

After increasing the budget for road maintenance this year and adding unexpected State grants to the mix, the Board of Selectmen took action on June 27 to plan for ongoing improvements.

The Board authorized First Selectman Chris Spaulding to sign a contract with an engineering consulting firm to conduct a townwide pavement assessment that will be continually updated by Public Works staff in the future.

When the work is done this autumn, every ten-foot segment of Weston's roads will be scanned and rated for condition. The data will be entered into a software management system. Town Administrator Jonathan Luiz told the Board this will provide a "holistic way of budgeting" for road maintenance now and in the future.

The system, according to the First Selectman, will give the Town advance notice of roads in need of attention before they become critical. It will also allow the Town to construct short and long-term "budgeting scenarios" to determine what can be done each year with available resources. The initial assessment, said Dr. Spaulding, would give the Town a "baseline, full audit" of road conditions in a "scientific, systematic way," acknowledging that, even after this year's paving, some roads in town are in "challenging condition."

The engineering consultant chosen, Beta Group, Inc., was selected after being interviewed, along with similar firms, by an advisory group including DPW Director Lou Martirano, Town Engineer John Conte, and members of the Board of Finance and Conservation Commission who are engineers.