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By Douglas McCulloch
Hometown Weekly Staff
Westwood’s streets and roads have received its highest marks yet in an annual engineering study commissioned by the town.
Every five years, the Westwood Department of Public Works has the Beta Group, an outside engineering firm, analyze the condition of every one of Westwood’s public streets and roads. Five years ago, the Beta Group graded Westwood’s roads at an 80 out of 100. This year, the firm awarded the town an 85.9 out of 100.
“It’s quite possibly the highest they have ever seen,” said Westwood Department of Public Works Director Todd Korchin. “It’s really a testament to all our hard work.”
According to Korchin, the average rating cities and towns in Massachusetts receive is a 70 out of 100, making Westwood’s rating of 85.9 exceptional compared to other cities and towns.
Korchin explained that there are a number of reasons Westwood’s roads are in such good shape. One of the biggest reasons is that the town is willing to invest in its own infrastructure. Several years ago, the town approved a $2.4 million bond for road and infrastructure improvement at a town meeting.
While the money was divided up and used for different infrastructure projects, including repairs to stormwater systems and traffic studies, some of the money went directly to maintain the pavement of every one of Westwood’s roads.
The funds from the infrastructure improvement bond helps supplement the money that the DPW takes in every year from the state. The DPW takes in about $500,000 a year from the state Chapter 90 program, but Korchin noted that in a lot of cases that money can not be counted on by itself.
“That $500,000 might seem like a big number, but it goes quickly,” Korchin said. He noted that a single major infrastructure project can cost about $300,000, more than half of the funds received through the Chapter 90 program.
The DPW also keeps a close eye on its roads. The department has an online system that tracks the conditions of each road, allowing the department to access records on every street at a moment’s notice.
“It’s a combination of being proactive and looking at what we have right now,” Korchin explained.
The DPW also works to stretch every dollar of its budget and works to keep roads in top shape so that major expensive projects are not necessary. The department completed a major microsurfacing project over the summer. Microsurfacing involves applying a protective sealing coat to roadways to make sure the roads last longer.
In addition to ensuring the roads last longer, microsurfacing is also cost effective. The DPW spent $4 per square yard on microsurfacing over the summer, while a complete mill and overlay project, which involves ripping up the existing road and replacing it, would have cost over $14 per square yard.
Looking forward, Korchin said the department hopes to raise its rating even further on the next study in five years.
“Our goal is to keep raising the bar,” Korchin said.
Korchin also credited his own team of employees with helping to keep the DPW on track, including Assistant Director Jeffrey Bina, Operations Manager Brendan Ryan and the department’s maintenance and construction crews.
Douglas McCulloch is an editor at Hometown Weekly. He can be reached at news@hometownweekly.net and followed on Twitter at @doug_mcculloch.
