Since we reported on the escalating price of asphalt two weeks ago, prices have continued to climb. The price of the binder, as reported by the Connecticut Department of Transportation, is now up 97% since March.
At last week’s Town Council meeting, Senior Engineer Tiger Mann observed that prices for asphalt had risen $15 per ton overnight. The Town has been getting great bid numbers, though, since other towns in Fairfield County are not doing road work, he said. (Westport actually has several road projects in progress.)
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (July 23) that “refinery managers have been tasked with inventing means of cutting asphalt production in favor of more profitable products,” and that “while demand for asphalt is dropping, supply is falling much faster.”
We think the Town’s appropriation for Phase III of “a pavement management plan for the Town of New Canaan’s network of roads” should be used for road repair and stretched as far as asphalt prices will allow to maintain our roads. We would suggest that construction of new sidewalks appropriately belongs in the regular budgeting process, where priorities can be evaluated along with other projects the Town would like to undertake.
UPDATE 9/2 – As of 8/27, the cost of the binder is up 134% since March 4, the date of the Selectman’s meeting when the idea of including Main Street sidewalks in the bonding issue for “a pavement management plan for the Town of New Canaan’s network of roads” first surfaced.
Tags: asphalt, construction, main street, New Canaan, sidewalks
