How Does Sudbury Spend Its Road Construction Funds?

SUDBURY, MA—Public works directors across Massachusetts are wrestling with how to use state money designated for use in improving local roads.

It's called Chapter 90 money, and the funds are granted from the state and used for capital improvement such as highway construction, preservation and other improvement projects. Basically, the town applies for the reimbursement, and then based on the amount that's granted, figures out which potholes to fill in, which bridges to repair, and which sidewalks to re-pave.

In FY2017, Sudbury got just over $750,000 in Chapter 90 funds, following roughly the same amount as the previous year. Last fiscal year, 2018, the town received slightly less, at just over $740,000.

Recently, Massachusetts added $40 million to the already $200 million set aside for local road construction and transportation improvement projects for FY2019.

Sudbury got nearly $900K in total funding for FY2019.

Public Works Director Dan Nason said it is too early to determine exactly where the updates will be focused with the FY2019 Chapter 90 money, but his team is working on a preventive maintenance (PM) plan. As with any other PM plan, he said the town focuses on the repairs that cost the least but give you the most "mileage."

"We focus on getting the 'best bang for the buck' when speaking about spending the limited Chapter 90 funds communities receive from the state," Nason told Patch.

Sudbury has 140 miles of roadways. Crack-sealing, Nason said, is one the least expensive ways to apply the money and cover the most ground.

"If we can crack-seal a roadway to prevent water from further deteriorating the wear surface and subsequent base material of the roadway, then we have successfully extended the service life of the roadway for years using very little funds," said Nason. "This ensures we can treat more roadway miles that are in decent condition to maintain that same level of service. In contrast, if we were to spend all of our Chapter 90 money on rehabilitating one mile of roadway in town, and we neglected the remaining 139 miles of roadway, it would take us 139 years to successfully rehabilitate every road throughout town. This approach is certainly unacceptable."

Here's how it works: the streets and roads are ranked using a pavement condition index (PCI). It's similar to getting a grade in school in which a 100 gets an "A." An "F" means the road's in poor condition, and needs an upgrade. The results are used to identify which roadways get treatment first.

"The principle behind the PMS is to preserve the roadways that are still in good shape to extend the useful life of the pavement, improve ride quality, correct surface defects and improve safety," said Nason. "This methodology is very cost-effective and allows for treating (or resurfacing) more roadway miles with our budget versus spending significantly more money on fully rehabilitating only one or two roads annually."

Depending on the condition, the DPW uses crack-sealing, chip-sealing, ultra-thin overlays, mill and overlays, full-depth patching and full-depth reclamation. After the town defines the plan for repair, it's integrated with utility companies to make sure there is no overlap.

The Baker-Polito Administration has released $900 million so far in Chapter 90 infrastructure funds since taking office in 2015.

Photo Credit: Charlene Arsenault, Patch staff