Stretching the repaving buck

By John Howell
Posted 9/22/16

Motorists and residents should be praising, not cursing, when they see National Grid digging a narrow trench down the middle or the side of Warwick streets as part of its ongoing program to update natural gas lines. Those trenches are the

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Stretching the repaving buck

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Motorists and residents should be praising, not cursing, when they see National Grid digging a narrow trench down the middle or the side of Warwick streets as part of its ongoing program to update natural gas lines. Those trenches are the harbinger of a newly paved road.

“We get the whole road [repaved] for half the price,” said David Picozzi, director of public works. When National Grid started replacing gas lines some years ago, Picozzi insisted the company repave the entire street.

That didn’t fly, but an agreement was worked out whereby the company would pay a portion of repaving the whole road, thus stretching Warwick paving dollars to cover more roads.

Under the arrangement, Warwick oversees the paving. The city schedules the work with its contractor, Cardi Corporation.

“We send a bill and they pay the bill, and it’s a beautiful thing,” Picozzi said.

The condition of city roads is a familiar issue at city budget hearings with the council often boosting the mayor’s proposed budget. This year’s budget allocates $1 million to roads, $1.3 million less than the year before.

So far this year, the city has spent $1.09 million in road restoration, of which National Grid will reimburse $375,000, reports City Engineer Eric Earls. That adds up to 6.9 miles of repaving.

In addition, the city spent $50,000 on crack sealing, which can extend the life of a road by three to five years.

Earls explained Tuesday the city must wait at least 90 days for natural compaction to occur before repaving a road where National Grid has completed its work. Sometimes the wait is longer depending on the time of year and the scheduled work. Also, it’s not always a dollar-for-dollar match. If the cut for replacement gas lines runs down the middle of a road, National Grid pays for half the repaving. That is reduced if the cut is on the side of the road.

Earls said Governor Francis Farms roads, where there have been gas upgrades, are ready for repaving this season. The city is also looking to schedule sections of Potowomut where National Grid has completed its work.

In Governor Francis Farms, about an inch and a half of the road surface will be “milled” off before a coating of new asphalt is applied. In situations where roads are severely deteriorated, eight to 12 inches of the surface are removed and “pulverized” to create a new subsurface before repaving.

“There are a handful of roads that fall into that category,” Earls said.

Picozzi said the road-repaving program has been linked to National Grid work at this time, although the city will address badly deteriorated roads beyond those being worked on by National Grid.

The department also looks to piggyback repaving with sewer and water projects. The fact that some roads won’t be repaved because of projected water or sewer work is understandable, but of little consolation for residents living in those neighborhoods.

“Tidewater [Drive] is tough. It makes no sense in paving right now with the sewer project,” Picozzi said. Streets off Tidewater are also rough, as are those in Highland Beach. Both areas are slated to get sewers as part of the Bayside sewer project.

Construction hasn’t started and it’s going to be years before the work is done, meaning little more than remedial road repairs in the interim.

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  • ASmith

    I wonder how they choose which roads are repaved and in which order, after national grid does their gas line upgrades? My neighborhood (close to the Warwick Beacon), had our gas lines updated three years ago (pretty sure 3 but it could be 4 years) and no such re-pavement has taken place.

    Although in the meantime; I do have a nice pathway on our road to use while pushing my daughter in her toy car, and it makes less noise than when I am pushing her on the rest of the road which is more worn down.

    So there is at least that going for me....

    Thursday, September 22, 2016 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Cutting the allocation for roads by more than half is bad. Getting National Grid to pave our streets for half price is a no-brainer.

    If David Picozzi was the one that insisted that National Grid repave the entire street he is to be commended.

    In my administration we will reward those departments that save the taxpayers money and penalize those departments that over spend. Visit www.correntemayorwarwick.com

    Enjoy Autumn.

    Richard Corrente

    Endorsed Democrat for Mayor

    Thursday, September 22, 2016 Report this