Road Status

Several times I have mentioned the crater like conditions of Plainfield's streets. I have been reminded that this problem is not on local to Plainfield but all surrounding communities have similar problems.

That is true to a degree. This has been an extremely tough fall and winter on pavements. On the the other hand I think the condition of the Plainfield streets is far worse than any other town's.

For the last two to three decades because of costs all responsible political entities have abandoned routine maintenance of roads. I can not remember when I last saw a crew tarring road cracks. That would be Road Preservation 101. Cold patching pot holes is only a temporary solution, it must be followed by hot patching to perhaps prevent the same holes reforming the next weather cycle.

For towns that receive grants to repave roads there is little incentive to repair on an on going basis since the money for new pavement comes from in most cases the state. At least every time it is discussed in Council that is used by administrations as the selling point for the work.

In as much as the expected life of a properly engineered and constructed new pavement is 20 years, anything shorter could be due to excessive usage. Other factors that contribute to the short life span of a pavement is of course first slipshod engineering both in planning and in supervision this includes making sure that there is proper drainage. Next is the use of substandard materials,not providing the right base and sub base and/or improper application of the pavement . Then there is excessive opening the road with substandard repair of the opening. And then there is of course the lack of sealing cracks or ignoring surface pitting which destroys the pavements integrity.

The above are causes of the problem. However there are other overlooked potential red flags that result in bad roads. A major one is the policy of using "acceptable vendors" rather then the open bidding process. This could be structured so that the municipality had a choice among lowest bidders not being obligate to use the lowest if there is a question about performance.

No matter how any administrator claims that due to grants it is not costing the local taxpayer to repave streets, the money came from taxes paid to the state. Proper maintenance should not be ignored.It may be short term costly to the public but in the long run it saves dollars that have other and better quality of life uses.

Somehow after two flat tires this year from potholes hit after dark while driving at or near the speed limit, I am more than ever concerned by the dangers resulting from not promptly making temporary repairs to be followed by proper long term patching. I feel that before all our streets become class 4 or lower that this should be a major focus rather than repaving the less traveled roads. There must be priority in the budget for this work.

Fortunately Park Ave, Seventh Street and Terril are County roads and they are are not Plainfield's responsibility.

Locally one of the potentially more dangerous roads is Route 22 westbound right lane from Mountain Ave. to the mall entrance where the rough pavement might cause a speeding driver to swerve. Also there is danger during lane changes especially at high speed of hitting an unsuspected pothole.