The Village of Flower Hill Highway Department unveiled the completion of its first formal road survey. The Village maintains approximately 11 miles of road on 67 streets in the incorporated Village. The Village has for years had an annual road maintenance program and the Highway staff previously used an informal review process to determine road projects.
“I am very proud of the work Rich Falcones our Highway Superintendent and his staff did to pull this report together. Our goal was to create a standard analysis of our roads so the Village could make better long term infrastructure maintenance decisions and residents could have transparency into that process.” Mayor Herrington said.
The majority of the roads were rated fair to good, with a handful of roads rated either excellent or poor. The Highway Superintendent adapted a scoring process that he learned as part of statewide highway training programs he attends. The scoring process incorporates inspections of both the road and gutters along the sides of the road. They look for potholes, cracks, deteriorating edges and other deficiencies in coming up with the scores.
In addition to the annual road paving program, the Highway Superintendent is also proficient in making small repairs known as cold patching. By having this expertise in house, the Village is able to maintain the quality of roads longer without having to bid out more costly projects.
“I encourage our residents to go online to review the scoring map and provide us feedback. We hope it also helps people understand the work the Village is doing to maintain our infrastructure” Herrington said.
This year the Village is planning on repaving Farmview Road, Hemlock Road, and Brook Lane. The Village will rely on State CHIPS funding for these roads and if the Village’s revenue outlook improves it may add other roads into the work plan. The report will allow the Board to better understand the status of the entire road system making prioritization and allocation of resources more strategic.
The report is posted on the Village’s website for the public to view and the Village has asked residents to provide comments at info@villageflowerhill.org or by calling Village Hall.
-Submitted by the Village of Flower Hill
