UPDATED 6-17-26
Asphalt prices ' risen to the level of insanity'
UPDATED: The state gave the town its 30 day notice of full road closure June 15. Town Adminstrator Elaine Sistare said the tentative date for full road closure is July 13. Some one-lane closures are possible. It is expected that Sabin Street and Wicker Street redos will be completed before then - they figure heavily in the detours. No pedestrian "traffic" will be allowed. For more detail on the project and the detours, please see the PTC story in the July 25 2024 issue of the Town Crier (some info may have changed since 2024 but most is still true)
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Like any house, there’s so much money available — and so many projects that need doing.
The Highway Department’s budget was affected by near and far. The Board of Finance asked for belt-tightening — twice — and the door to the Strait of Hormuz is slammed shut. Asphalt prices have “risen to the level of insanity,” said Highway Superintendent Travis Sirrine.
So Sirrine prioritized, just like any homeowner.
The Highway Department has a short list of roads to renovate on its agenda for this summer. “We’re going to do what we can do,” he said. Sabin and Keech streets’ renovations are necessary because of the Wall that Heals setting up Sept. 10 through 13, at Murphy Park and the state’s retaining wall project on Rt. 44 will detour motorists down those roads.
Sabin Street, from Rt. 44 to Recreation Park intersection and Keech Street from Recreation Park to Wicker Street will be renovated. This week, the crew is milling Sabin Street. He added that the town is working with engineers on a lining project for the Wicker Street Bridge.
“The Wall (that Heals) kinda forced our hand,” on those renovations because of the amount of traffic, he said. They were in poor condition.
Kennedy Drive is a definite, he said. They’d like to revamp Kennedy Drive from I-395 northward. They will go as far north on Kennedy Drive “as funding will allow us.” He anticipates it will require 25,000 square yards of “hot, in-place” recycled paving. That process involves a machine gobbles up the top layer of asphalt, melts it and then the machine lays it back down. The town has had this process done before. This time, however, they will add an “asphalt friction course” on top of that. That course will rejuvenate the asphalt and make it a “very hard surface.” He said, the “wearability is really great.” This is a new process, he said, and the town will be working with state engineers. The state has already done one of these friction courses in the western part of the state and Putnam will be the eastern part of the state’s pilot program. “It’s a special asphalt overlay that will extend the life of the road.”
It all depends on how far the budget and materials pricing goes. When those three streets are done, “we have another look at it. See what we can do.” The department may do a couple drainage projects toward the end of the season. Those types of projects are generally done at the end of the season when it’s drier. In addition, Five Mile River Road will get its second coat of chip seal.
Eversource is just finishing its replacement of natural gas lines. Phase I was Canal Street; Phase 2 was Kennedy Drive from the plaza to Providence Street; Main Street is Phase 3. He believes the Main Street line replacement may go to the top of Bundy Street.
Repaving of those streets will wait a year. Sirrine said that is to allow for any settling in the trenching. He said Canal Street has already had a sinkhole develop. It makes sense, he said, to give that work a year to settle, including a winter cycle. Why pave twice? So those streets have been put in the back burner.
As far as the state project to replace the retaining walls along the Rt. 44 bridge and along Rt. 44 heading toward Pomfret, Sirrine said he believes “we may see something starting up soon.” Originally the state had said they would start the detours the third week of June and then backed off that, promising to give the town 30 days’ notice. Sirrine said some detour signs were installed June 15 on Sabin Street and there are covers on them. “The signs are up (but covered) so I think they’re getting close.” The electric lines are set up to move across the street. He said the water and sewer lines will be moved temporarily. There will be trenching and some tree work. The detours are another factor in the decision to revamp Sabin and Keech because the traffic will “probably quadruple,” on those streets, he said.
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caption, page 7
The "hot in place" method of paving. File photos from 2023 by Linda Lemmon