On the first of two scorching hot days, August 27, with heat indexes nudging up toward 100 degrees, one of several Newtown Department of Public Works crews was laying blacktop along the curving expanse of Yogananda Street.

With steam rising from the asphalt mixture — which comes off the spreader at 300-plus degrees — crew members Anthony Capozziello, Jeff Thomas, John Ferris, Bob Fritzinger, Stephen Clark, Joe Prah, Keven Belden, Lee Glover, and John Manville swigged down water and kept up the pace as truck after truck rolled up, pouring out the molten mixture.

A few hours later, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal and Public Works Director Fred Hurley met at the Municipal Center to review the paving season’s progress. Following that meeting, Mr Rosenthal told The Newtown Bee the sheer scope of catch-up that crews must do to restore cracked, pocked, and delaminated surfaces on many of the community’s by-ways has him looking toward options for underwriting continued and escalated road repair programs over the next three to five years.

The first selectman said he went out to view some of the ongoing roadwork earlier in the day.

“Lord knows there’s a lot more that we need to do,” the first selectman said, “our work is just beginning.”

During his meeting with Mr Hurley, Mr Rosenthal received an updated progress list that he shared with the newspaper. He indicated that some roads that are part of the original 2018-19 paving plan are not on that interim update list, but residents will see their streets appearing in future updates.

“There are also a few smaller projects that may slide from this year to next spring,” he said. “And the ultimate completion of this year’s program is, of course, always dependent on weather,” he said.

Mr Hurley previously explained to The Newtown Bee that the longer warmer temperatures linger into fall and even early winter, the longer asphalt plants remain open, which keep crews working.

A new program of road chip sealing on 27 local roads could commence as early as Friday, August 31, and no later than Tuesday, September 4, Mr Rosenthal said.

In the meantime, the first selectman will continue to grapple with the long-term challenge of seeing all local roads repaired or maintained within a manageable cycle of time.

According to the latest numbers provided by Mr Hurley, the full reconstruction of a local roads, including drainage, costs about $471,000, while simply paving one mile of local roads costs about $312,000.

Conversely, this season, the town is planning to use chip sealing to improve the surfaces of 13 miles of road at an approximate cost of $500,000.

Newtown currently maintains 275 miles of local roadways, among the most in Connecticut. And Mr Rosenthal said at least 100 miles of those roads have been added over the past two decades as subdivisions and new housing developments have proliferated across town.

Updated Road List

As of August 29, the DPW has completed repairing and/or resurfacing the following roads: Birch Hill Road, Brushy Hill Road, Grays Plain Road, High Bridge Road, High Rock Road, Hundred Acres Road, Huntingtown Road, Monitor Hill Road, Old Farm Hill Road, Pastors Walk, Pond Brook Road, and School House Hill Road.

Program road reclamation with paving to follow is underway on Pebble Road, with Yearling Lane, and Lakeview Terrace to follow.

Chip sealing preparation is complete on Acorn Drive, Alder Lane, Antler Pine Road, Arthur’s Court, Bennetts Bridge Road, Brandywine Lane, Bristle Lane, Cobblers Mill, Far Horizon Drive, Fawnwood Road, Fox Hollow Road, Huntingtown Road, Lone Oak Meadow, Merlins Lane, and Misty Vale Road; also Mountain Manor Road, Old Purdy Station Road, Osborne Hill Road, Owl Ridge Road, Paugussett Road, Purdy Station Road, Rose Lane, Silo Road, Skidmore Lane, Stonegate Lane, Sweetbriar Lane, and Yogananda Street.

The first local roads scheduled for completion of chip sealing are Bristle Lane, Brandywine Lane, Fox Hollow Road, Stonegate Lane, and Sweetbriar Lane.