EAST LONGMEADOW – The Massachusetts House of Representatives recently authorized $200 million in Chapter 90 funds for local road and bridge repairs, $586,128 of which will be granted to the town.

Department of Public Works (DPW) Superintendent Robert Peirent told Reminder Publications the funds would be used for repairing town roadways.

“When you’re maintaining roads you need a balance of improving roads and maintaining roads,” he added. “Improving roads costs more than maintaining roads typically. One of the road maintenance techniques that’s used is called crack sealing, which you probably see going down the highway … The intent is to keep the water in the pavement out of the base of the roadway because when the base of the roadway gets wet, particularly in the winter time, that’s what creates frost heaves and it causes the road to crack.”

Peirent said crack sealing helps maintain roads that are in good shape and during the past three years the DPW has crack sealed five to 10 miles of roads each year.

Town Engineer Dan Murphy said the list of improvements for this year include a section of Porter Road from Allen Street to the Springfield line, overlay and spot milling along Allen Street, improvements to roadway near Millbrook Drive and Sanford Street, a section of Pease Road near the easterly end that needs repairs, and a portion of Parker Street that requires spot milling repairs.

Peirent said the DPW checks the conditions of utilities before roads are paved to make certain that a failed utility problem doesn’t arise a year after the roadway is paved.

Other improvements include water main projects on John Street and Mapleshade Avenue, Murphy said.

“Both of these will likely be patched this year and overlaid next year,” Peirent noted.

He added the DPW is also utilizing a pavement management plan – something new for the department – which entails bringing in an outside firm to examine every mile of the 100 miles of roadway the town owns and to asses the conditions and needs of the roadways.

“A poor quality roadway that serves a couple of residents are less important than a poor quality road with a very heavy level of travel on it,” Peirent said.

State Rep. Angelo Puppolo Jr. stated in a press release Chapter 90 funding is vital to aiding communities with road repairs and improvements.

“This funding is critically important to repairing our roadways, especially following a winter of extreme temperature shifts which compounded many existing problems,” he added. “Furthermore, the resulting improvements will help to drive economic growth.”

Chapter 90 funds are earmarked for roadway projects such as resurfacing, drainage, sidewalks, traffic control and lighting, or road building machinery, equipment and tools.

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