We have had several residents ask how paving decisions are made in the Village and wanted to provide some clarity to this issue. Every other year, the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) checks every road in the Village and gives each road section a grade ranging from Failed to Good. Should a road rate as failed and it needs a simple grinding of the top layer and a new coat of pavement, the road will go on our priority to do list. We then try to group the streets to get the best price and “bang for our buck”. The annual budget for such work is $225,000 and we pave a couple of miles of roadway for that amount.
However, some streets rate poorly but also need more done than just grinding the top layer; maybe they need the water main or sewer lines replaced. These roads need a full reconstruction, and the cost of repaving these roads is significantly higher. In these cases, the projects are handed off to the Capital Program Review Committee who will rank them and decide which roads or projects are done and in what order. The Committee values public input, so please feel free to contact them to offer suggestions on work that needs to be completed in the Village: <link boards capital-program-review-committee _blank internal link in current>www.essexjunction.org/boards/capital-program-review-committee/. The Committee’s current project priority list can be viewed at this link as well.