Village Roads in Need of Repair

You’re not just imagining it ….Scarsdale’s roads are indeed in need of repair. At a July 13 meeting of the Village Municipal Services Committee, Village managers presented an update to their 2009 Paving Management Study and reviewed the state of 79 miles of Village roads. Using video imaging and visual analysis they looked for signs of alligator cracking, potholes and delamination, which occurs when the top skin of the road separates from the layer below.

The updated study showed that 5.56 miles of roads are in poor condition and 37 miles are in fair condition. Managers estimate that it costs an average of $382,000 to repair a mile of road and it would cost $16.3 million to repair all the roadways now in “poor” and “fair” condition.

The current budget for 20011-12 only includes $800,000 for road repairs, far short of what is required. In 2010/11 the Village spent $990,500 for paving, curbing, patch work and micro-surfacing and here is a list of the roads that were repaired:

• Dobbs Terrace
• Catherine Road – From Mamaroneck Road to Dead End
• Highland Way – From Fox Meadow to Oak Lane
• Claremont Road – From #16 to Walworth
• Garden Road – From Mamaroneck Road to Oxford Road
• Griffen Avenue – From Grand Park to Weaver Street
• Oxford Road – From Greendale to Post Road
• Richbell Road – From Lakin to Bethel
• Sherbrooke Road – Sidewalk
• Taunton Road – From Popham to Tisdale

In 2011/12, there is only $800,000 in the budget which will be spent to repair 2.2 miles of roadways. On the list are the following roads:

• Burgess Road – From Post to Richbell Road
• Eton Road – From Greendale to Park Road
• Greenacres Avenue – From Brayton To Farley Road
• Heathcote Road – from Duck Pond to Post Road
• Lincoln Road – From Palmer to Graham Road
• Mamaroneck Road – From Cooper to Post Road and between Catherine and Leatherstocking
• Chase Road – From Christie Place to Spencer Place

However, with more than half of the 79 miles of Village roadways in poor or fair condition, 2.2 miles of repairs will do little to relieve the woes. Village Manager Al Gatta proposed two methods of funding additional roadwork and presented them to the Trustees at the Tuesday meeting.

The two financing options proposed were:

- Pay as you go – by increasing taxes to fund the road work
- Borrow $5.1 million over three years buy issuing bonds to repair all the “poor roads” and 20% of the roads rated “fair.”

Trustees will review these options at a future date.

The status of the public safety building was also reviewed at the meeting. The building and a new retaining wall will be completed at the end of July. The next steps will be to install the communications system and furniture. The building is scheduled to be fully operational at the end of September.