South Windsor voters to decide on $35.5M for roads at Nov. referendum

Joseph Villanova, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·2 min read

Jul. 22—SOUTH WINDSOR — Town Council has unanimously approved sending voters a $35.5 million referendum in bonds for townwide road work.

Voters will decide on Election Day, Nov. 8, whether the town will borrow funds for a five-year plan for roadwork projects, Paving for Progress, initially published by the Public Works department in March.

ROADWORK

WHAT: The Public Works department has developed a five-year plan for road improvements and is seeking permission from voters to borrow $35.5 million to fund it.

WHEN: Major projects scheduled for 2023 include repairs to Beelzebub Road and reconstruction of Pleasant Valley Road, with work on some 101 miles of road scheduled between 2023 and 2027.

A presentation on the plan, dated Feb. 2, states that the town has a $36 million backlog of work on 101 miles of town roads that need maintenance at various levels of disrepair. Some 38 miles of road needing structural improvement make up the majority at $25.2 million in costs, including parts of Clark Street, Troy Road, and Rye Street.

Town Manager Michael Maniscalco said at a meeting Monday that between presentations to the Town Council and committees and sharing the plan on social media the town has received good feedback on the project, but funding is needed to implement it.

Maniscalco said town has funded road repairs with bonds in the past, but a "pay-as-you-go" plan using capital funds could be developed if the community decides it does not want to borrow money for the five-year plan.

He said if approved, the town would seek to issue 20- or 30-year bonds and would expect to pay them off between 2048 and 2058.

Mayor Elizabeth Pendleton said the Public Works Department presented a "wonderful" plan of how to tackle all of the town's necessary roadwork.

Town Engineer Jeffrey Doolittle said securing the funding is imperative to continue regular maintenance of the town's roads.

"If we delay funding any road repairs, they would deteriorate ... and costs are going up significantly, so now is the time," Doolittle said.

Doolittle said a $5 million increase in the funds the town aims to borrow would go toward sidewalks, an aspect not initially included in the plan.

Maniscalco said that because of the language used for the authorization of the funds, spending any of the $35.5 million on anything other than roadwork would be punishable by law.

Joseph covers East Hartford and South Windsor. He joined the JI in July 2021. Joseph graduated from the University of Connecticut and he is an avid guitarist and coffee enthusiast.