Rosenthal Gives The Go-Ahead

For Butterfield Road Paving Project

By Steve Bigham

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal this week called for town crews to begin paving an unpaved section of Butterfield Road despite 11th-hour efforts from residents to stop it. The dirt road has had drainage problems during rainstorms for years. Town officials say enough is enough.

“I just don’t see any other alternative,” Mr Rosenthal said Tuesday.

For more than a decade, town officials have sought to pave the road to resolve a recurring drainage problem, which results in silt entering a stream that feeds Pond Brook. A 1,200-foot-long section of the unpaved section is a steep hill (20-degree grade), and, although the hill has drainage catch basins and storm sewer lines, water rushing down the hill forces sediment into the sewers which discharge the sediment into the stream. The Conservation Commission has issued the town a cease-and-desist order to stop it from repeatedly rebuilding the unpaved hill in a manner that allows any additional siltation of the brook.

Residents fear paving the road will take away from the charm and character of the narrow, rustic road, which links Currituck Road to Hanover Road. They are also concerned that cars, already traveling at high speeds along this two-mile connector, will accelerate even more once it is paved.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said paving that particular section of Butterfield Road has been a long time coming. “For me personally it has been 10 years, but it was a problem long before that. The problem pre-dates me,” he said.

Mr Hurley said it was a Butterfield Road resident who first called him out there to take a look at the washout, which prevented school buses from accessing the road.

But residents, including Andrew Willie of 51 Butterfield Road, say siltation of the brook never was a problem until the town started using low-grade fill to repeatedly rebuild the hilly section of roadway.

Russell J. Dirienzo of the Handex environmental firm emphasized that point. In an October 18 letter to Mr Rosenthal, Mr Dirienzo, hired by Mr Willie, said the environmental impact and concern is not due to the presence of a dirt road. “The problem is an inadequate and improperly designed drainage system,” he stated. “The issue can easily be remedied by the installation of a perforated pipe placed in a two-foot deep trench along one side of the road.”

Mr Dirienzo added that the proper fill should be used to regrade the road. He suggested the town use a material that has a higher percentage of silt and clay to stabilize the road, prevent sedimentation of the stream, and to reduce long-term maintenance costs.

Earlier this week, Mr Rosenthal visited road sites in Roxbury, upon the requests of residents, to see if there were any alternatives. He found little to convince him that paving could be avoided.

Paving is expected to commence next week.