CANTON — Road work in the village is set to begin soon, and construction is already underway for the town Highway Department as it has begun to tackle the longest stretch of road it will face this summer.
Village crews will begin work a little late this season, but intend to begin as soon as Mother Nature allows, according to village Superintendent Brien E. Hallahan.
“We are actually a little behind because of the weather,” Mr. Hallahan said. “We usually try to get started around Memorial Day, so we might be a week behind where we normally would be.”
The village will concentrate its efforts this summer on Craig Drive, Chapel Street and Canterbury Lane in their entirety. It also will complete construction on a portion of Wells Street from Hammond Drive to the end of the street and the section of Court Street that runs from Main Street to Judson Street.
The total cost of these projects is about $120,000, according to Mr. Hallahan.
“We have x number of dollars. We try to spread it as far as we can,” he said.
The superintendent said asphalt prices are about $5 per ton — about 10 percent — cheaper than the initial price last year, and that top coat is $6 to $7 cheaper than in 2016.
“This is the published bid, but it can go up every two weeks. If the price of asphalt oil goes up, there is a multiplier,” Mr. Hallahan said. “In spite of that, it looks a little bit cheaper than the last year.”
Mr. Hallahan said he hopes to be done with road work by the end of July.
“We try to get done by the end of July just because by August we have students coming back,” he said. “Typically in June and July we concentrate on the streets and as soon as we get done with the streets we go on to sidewalk repair.”
The town will work on five different roadways this summer. According to town Clerk Lisa Hammond, construction has started on a 6,000-foot stretch of Irish Settlement Road, a $150,000 project that includes finishing roadway preparation, applying base binder and applying top coat.
The town also will work on 1,100 feet of Ames Road North, 2,500 feet of North Woods Road, 4,500 feet of Eddy Pyrites Road, which will include repairs to two culverts, and 5,100 feet of Pollock Road. The cost of these four projects will total $251,000.