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Council warned paving backlog will grow under default budget; town outlines a preservation strategy
Summary
Public works staff presented a 'keep good roads good' paving strategy and cautioned that continued default budgets would reduce paving throughput and eventually increase long‑term costs and safety risks; the department asked the council to consider increased paving funding to prevent deterioration.
MERRIMACK — Public works officials urged the council to fund a longer‑term pavement‑preservation strategy during the Jan. 14 budget review, saying deferred paving and drainage repairs are driving higher future costs.
Don and other DPW staff presented a townwide pavement inventory and a preservation approach that emphasizes early crack sealing, injection and targeted shim/overlay work to extend pavement life. "If you can get it down soon enough within the first 12 to 16, 17 years, you can help extend the pavement life," Don said, noting that preservation can delay the much larger expense of full reconstruction.
Staff said the town historically aimed for roughly 3–3.5 miles of paving per year but delivered about 1.8 miles in the current cycle because of financial constraints and default budget decisions. Councilors were told that the paving budget was increased modestly in the proposed budget (about $100,000) but remains below prior recommended levels; DPW argued that repeated default budgets would continue to push more roads past the point of costly full reconstruction.
Officials also described the role of drainage repairs and manhole replacement costs, and said they would pursue grants and phased construction for larger rehabilitations. Staff plan a public hearing for neighborhood paving and will provide a copy of the pavement condition slides to councilors ahead of deliberations.
