NORTHAMPTON — Potholes in the Pioneer Valley are as certain as the appearance of the first robin and late spring snowstorms.
Few things are as sure to elicit frustration, or ruin tires. In Northampton, potholes are jarring vehicles in places as varied as Hockanum Road, Bliss Street and at the Westhampton town line, causing frustration for residents and commuters alike. And while potholes are not unique to the city, Mayor David Narkewicz has proposed a course of action aimed at putting a dent in his city’s problem: Tripling the funding for paving.
Narkewicz said that his plan to increase paving funds from $500,000 a year to $1.5 million a year in fiscal 2019 is to add to state funding, which he said is not enough.
This investment has been proposed to be repeated in the next four fiscal years following fiscal 2019 in the city’s five-year capital improvement program.
“We’ll actually be spending more than the state will be spending,” Narkewicz said.
Combined with the approximately $1 million the city receives yearly from Chapter 90, Northampton will now spend $2.5 million annually on paving roads. The City Council has passed the fiscal year 2019 capital improvement program that includes an extra $1.5 million that the city will borrow.
Narkewicz also noted that most communities rely only on Chapter 90 funds for road repair.
Although the money will not be used to patch potholes, Highway Superintendent Richard Parasiliti Jr. noted that repaving roads has solved pothole problems in the past, pointing to Sylvester Road as one example.
Burts Pit Road, Chesterfield Road, Hampton Avenue and Pleasant Street are some of the areas that are set to be paved this year. The full proposed list of repairs can be found on the city’s website.
In the meantime, the Department of Public Works is hard at work plugging this year’s potholes.
Parasiliti said that he currently has a crew working on potholes, and that when the hot mix asphalt plants start running at full capacity — tentatively on Monday — he will have two crews, the maximum number he can field with his personnel.
“It’s really been about supply and demand,” he said. “The demand for asphalt is astronomical.”
Parasiliti said this year’s early spring created the “perfect storm” for potholes.
“The frost left very rapidly,” he said. “Potholes just exploded everywhere.”
Amherst Department Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring is seeing the same thing.
He said that warm weather, followed by rain, followed by freezing has left the town marked by potholes. He, too, is waiting for the local hot mix plants to ramp up. Amherst town officials are also proposing additional funding for paving for the coming fiscal year, he said.
In Northampton, Parasiliti said that the DPW is prioritizing its filling efforts.
“The deepest and most dangerous potholes have to get filled first,” he said.
Those are the ones that go below the first layer of black top. Potholes that just penetrate the first layer are referred to as “skimmers.”
Parasiliti said that pothole patching is weather dependent, but noted that it is typically completed by the end of April to mid-May.
People can report Northampton potholes by calling the DPW at 413-587-1570, or by emailing dpwinfo@northamptonma.gov.
One person who is not happy with the way Northampton has managed its pothole problem is Mary-Clare Phillips, who lives in Westhampton but has her screen printing business in Northampton. She says that she and her family have had two tires ruined by Northampton potholes on Chesterfield Road this year. In 2017, potholes destroyed three tires.
“We’ve spent so much money on tires,” she said.
When she wrote about this in the Facebook group What’s Up Westhampton? she said, she got responses from others who share her frustration.
“We in Westhampton can’t get out (without dealing with Northampton potholes),” she said.
Once Chesterfield Road crosses over into Westhampton, however, the roads markedly improve, she said. She attributes that to higher taxes in her town.
“We pay a pretty penny for them (the roads),” Phillips said.
Pat Cunningham, who lives on the Northampton border in Westhampton, says she deals with the problem by slowing down once she enters Northampton. And, at 79, she says, she avoids going out in bad weather.
Narkewicz and Parasiliti said the towns are not comparable. Northampton, they say, has more miles of roads and heavier traffic.
“They have a different set of variables,” said Parasiliti, noting that Westhampton is a much smaller community and doesn’t have to deal with working around a city water supply and sanitary sewer system.
Because of this, Parasiliti said, Westhampton can utilize oil and stone for its roads to a far greater extent, which is a lot cheaper.
Westhampton Highway Department Superintendent David Blakesley agreed that it helps that Westhampton can widely use oil and stone. He pointed out that the 1½ miles of road that Westhampton paved with blacktop last year cost $139,000. By contrast, the 2.3 miles of oil and stone that Westhampton put down cost $73,000.
He also noted that Westhampton hasn’t been having much of a pothole problem this year.
“We’re doing really good,” he said, estimating that the town has patched six to a dozen potholes all year.
Phillips said that she would like Northampton to consistently pave up to the town line, noting that many Westhampton residents commute into the city.
Since Phillips met with the Gazette and showed potholes on Northampton roads leading into Westhampton on Feb. 28, a number of potholes on Chesterfield Road have been filled. Although paving on Chesterfield Road has been proposed for this year, the plans do not include paving to the Westhampton border.
Potholes have been filled on Hockanum Road, and Scanlon Avenue is on schedule to have its potholes repaired.
But Charles Tarlton, who lives on Bliss Street, which also has potholes and abuts Scanlon Avenue, would rather the potholes be left alone. He said motorists use his street as a shortcut. Potholes, he said, slow them down.
“Since the potholes are there, people have to negotiate them,” he said.
Indeed, driving slower is a piece of advice that Mooring in Amherst has in general for people during pothole season.
“Slow down,” he said. “Watch where you’re going.”
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.