Reflecting on paving project

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — Drivers who have been dealing with delays and milled streets during an extensive project through the downtown business district are now enjoying two miles of freshly-paved roadways, and city officials had the opportunity to reflect on the final result. Mayor Mark Hawke said he was happy with the end result of the paving project, and wants drivers to remember that fresh paved roads shouldn’t mean increased speeds. “The pavers did an excellent job,” said Mr. Hawke. “We were ahead of schedule which is always good. There are some minor cleanup that the DPW has to do but they did it well they did it quickly and just because its smooth and clean doesn’t mean drivers are going to go too fast.” According to Department of Public Works Director Dane Arnold, the project was ahead of schedule because the city used an experienced and well-organized paving company. “P.J. Keating was a great crew,” said Mr. Arnold. “They came in and they were right on schedule, they started on the Monday when we asked them to and you have to remember they were doing route 2 and 495 and all these other major road projects for the state, and they were willing to come down here into the city of Gardner and do two miles of downtown traffic work.” The original plans, which had the paving project ending later on in the month, took into account potential weather and mechanical problems, both of which Mr. Arnold said weren’t issues. “We actually had a decent run with the weather and that definitely helped out,” said Mr. Arnold. “ And we really had no mechanical failures to speak of.” At the beginning of the project ,the Police Department had to deal with many motorists ignoring the new stop signs but with the freshly paved roads, Mr. Arnold said he has seen a major change. “ What I’m finding is from the start of the project, lets face it , nobody was stopping at the stop signs,” said Mr. Arnold. “But now that we have implemented black pavement with the bright white lines and the stop signs, there is a much greater percentage of people stopping.” Although the final budget for the project has not yet been calculated, Mr. Arnold said he thinks the city stayed within the parameters despite increases in asphalt prices. “I think we are on track with the budget,” said Mr. Arnold. “Unfortunately the price of asphalt was fluctuating pretty much weekly. From the time we started the project to when we finished it asphalt had gone up by $15 a ton, which is about a 20 percent increase in the price of asphalt. The dust hasn’t settled but I’d say we are in pretty good shape.” The new roads, according to Mr. Arnold, are expected to last for more than a decade, and an additional sealing project may be needed sometime in the future. “Probably within the next 10 years we are going to be crack sealing these roads,” said Mr. Arnold. “We will hopefully get about 15 years of total life.” Now that the road paving is completed, Mr. Arnold said officials can focus on new changes in the way traffic flows through the business district. “We are going to make this work,” said Mr. Arnold. “The police department and I are going to work together to make it safe for traffic to flow through here.” oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 8/23/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 200)