As Town Supervisor, whether I am at an official town event or shopping at the grocery
store, I am frequently approached by residents. It’s generally a mix of compliments and
questions, but there certainly are complaints as well. If I were to compile a top 10 list of
the most common grievances I’m approached with, complaints about the road
conditions would certainly be right near the top. I often hear, “My road has to be the
worst in the town,” and “How come you paved street A when Street B where I live is
clearly worse?”. It’s human nature, of course, as we are most familiar with the flaws in
the things we interact with every day. On many occasions, I will take a drive out to the
resident’s street myself, and I generally find these complaints to be highly subjective.
But it does raise a very valid issue that municipalities all across the country face: how to
best demonstrate objectivity in assessing road conditions.
Thankfully, technology has an answer to this dilemma and we just implemented it here
in Clarkstown. Residents can now access an independently-compiled online road
grading report, providing an unprecedented level of transparency into a truly objective
methodology for determining future paving priorities. The report is available at
clarkstown.gov/paving and residents can look up any town road and view its score
assessment (from 0 to 100) and ranking in categories ranging from “1(best) to 5.”
The report is part of a new partnership with Clarkstown and Pavement Management
Group (PMG), which aims to assist the town in developing a comprehensive paving plan
based upon real, objective data. PMG is a nationally recognized road infrastructure
management company who used on-the-ground video technology to capture HD
footage of every single roadway in the Town of Clarkstown. The video footage was then
uploaded into the company’s paving management software program and scores and
categories were assigned based on the findings.
The scoring method PMG uses was developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in
the 1970s to establish an objective measure of the conditions of roads and parking lots.
It was later adopted, standardized, and published by ASTM International. Today, the
system is used by local and state governments, as well as airports, across the United
States.
Now, when a resident approaches me and says their road has to be the worst in the
town, I can point them to a database where they can actually see where their road
ranks. They can view the video taken by PMG, and they can even point out an area that
they believe was overlooked or has further deteriorated since the video was taken. On
the back end, the PMG software will allow the town to create multiple paving plans,
compare costs and benefits, assist with budgeting, and much more.
We invested in this technology because the Town Board and I are committed to
protecting taxpayers with a new era of transparency in roadway maintenance. New York
State law does give sole authority to duly elected Highway Superintendents to
determine which roads they pave and when, but this is a tremendous step toward
ending the days of “paving patronage.” It’s also important to note that a strict “from
worst to first” philosophy isn’t always the best approach. Cost, timing, utility work
planned on roads, and other factors still come into play.
The Town Council and I are also actively examining and seeking to implement further
fiscal controls and oversight measures, as allowed by law, to promote greater
accountability in the expenditure of highway funds. These controls will work in tandem
with the budget forecast produced by PMG to ensure paving funds are allocated
efficiently and appropriately.
Please take a moment to check out the report. I’m confident you’ll find it informative and
easy to use. And as a taxpayer, we hope you can appreciate the additional insight into
how your tax dollars are being spent.
