FOR WANT OF TAR

“For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.”

― Benjamin Franklin

Plainfield’s Dept. of Public Works has done a good job this pothole winter. They respond as rapidly as possible to notification via the city yard to the presence of dangerous potholes.

Since, except for our mini-spring, only cold patching is possible; it is a given that many of those patches will breakdown with the next bad weather cycle.

Much of the blame for this winters plague of tire killers belongs to we the people No we did not tar up the pavement; but we did not insist and pay for preventive maintenance. Instead in all areas instead of tight fiscal controls demanded by the Council; we have cut back in many areas on staffing, material and the desire as money saving practices.

Fortunately the last series of re-pavements under Jackson have been seamless from curb to curb; which in itself will be a major pothole preventive. But if these roads are to last 20 years daily upkeep surveillance is mandatory.

Prior to the present Director’s tenure; and this may be due to the common equipment used by the contractors which was accepted by the municipalities. Roads were resurfaced in three parallel strips which were supposed to join seamlessly; but 9% of the time did not. This left a linear crack which allowed water to seep in and do its damnest.

These cracks could have been sealed with hot tar and the road would last its expected lifetime. However no one cared since there were state and federal grants to repave roads. Of course over the years the true cost to the taxpayer whose money funded these replacements, was much higher.

We are not going to have Eric Jackson with us much longer; he will become Trenton’s Mayor. Thus it starts with the top of the administration that there must be a priority in infrastructure upkeep.

Tight fiscal control, what is that, and perhaps action to recoup by a forensic audit, funds that may have been improperly allocated will release funds for prevention.