Weird winter weather muddying roads

HARLEM VALLEY — The temperature has reached as high as the ‘50s in recent days, only to drop down below freezing at night. Those conditions are creating “perfect storm� scenarios for local dirt roads.

At night the frost comes up under the roads and breaks apart the foundation. When the sun comes out and warms everything up, it wreaks havoc on dirt roads, creating large mud fields that can trap vehicles.

The situation was severe enough in Amenia for town Supervisor Wayne Euvrard to declare a state of emergency at 2:30 p.m. last Wednesday, Feb. 11. Signs were posted to close all dirt roads and drivers who needed to travel those roads were instructed to proceed with caution.

“Stan [Whitehead, Amenia’s highway superintendent] gave me a tour,� Euvrard said at the Town Board meeting Thursday, Feb. 12. “It didn’t take long for me to make a decision.�

While Pine Plains has no dirt roads to worry about, North East does. Conditions weren’t as bad as Amenia, according to Highway Superintendent Robert Stevens, but were still a major concern for the highway crew.

In particular, three roads were causing the most headaches: Huckleberry Road, Cooper Road and Scribner Road.

“Being that the temperature is going to drop a little bit,� Stevens reported at the North East Town Board meeting Feb. 12, “we’re going to go out with the grader and take care of the ruts and try to fill things in the best that we can.�

Stevens also noted that this marked the first time Mountain Farm Road had also “really let go.� Town Supervisor Dave Sherman recalled that years ago the same type of weather conditions occurred and people helped to truck in stone to make repairs.

According to Whitehead, the 62 roads in Amenia cover 32.5 miles. Out of those, 12 dirt roads cover 10.5 miles.

“It’s very bad,� Whitehead said. “The best thing to do is stay off them. I’ve never seen mud like this.�

Local highway departments have been laying down loose stone where they can. Early in the morning, when the road is still frozen, it’s possible to use the grader to smooth the dirt over, but as soon as the temperature rises above 28 degrees, it’s an impossible task, according to Whitehead.

It was expected that by Sunday the roads in Amenia would be safe to travel down again.

Paving the dirt roads?

In Amenia, the discussion of mud lead to talk of how expensive the upkeep on dirt roads is. Euvrard reported dirt roads are at least three times as costly to maintain than paved roads.

Whitehead reported that the Highway Department will be hurting financially this year, with the cost of salt and pavement on the rise. Still, Euvrard suggested that maybe the town should look into paving some of the dirt roads to cut future costs.

“There’s the safety issue. What if an ambulance needs to get through?� he asked. Whitehead reported that he was on call with all local paramedic and rescue squads, and that in the case of an emergency his crew would work as hard as they could to get help to people who needed it.

After Euvrard remarked that a paving schedule should be worked out to pave a certain number of miles each year, town Councilwoman Vicki Doyle said that such a schedule needed to include an entire list of the town’s capital improvements.

“This isn’t just about Amenia Elementary or dirt roads,� she said, while stressing that they were very important issues. “There is a lot of decaying infrastructure in this town. It’s wonderful that we have very low debt, but that number doesn’t show repairs that are currently needed.� She went on to call all of the town’s repair needs “a really tangible time bomb.�

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