Cost survey started for Modock Hill Road upgrades

By David Carkhuff

Town staff will research the cost to upgrade Modock Hill Road, a rough and bumpy, nearly milelong gravel road leading to Rockhouse Mountain subdivision southeast of Madison.More than two dozen residents requested road improvements in a letter received by Town Manager Earl Sires on Oct. 14. They asked selectmen to relinquish the funds necessary to improve the road to standards suitable for the safe passage of people and vehicles. Although 27 members of Rockhouse Mountain Property Owners Association did not mention paving, that ultimately may be the solution the town adopts.I dont believe theres anything else we could do to upgrade this road other than to pave it, said Public Works Director Paul DegliAngeli.Estimated cost would be $175,000 to $200,000, he estimated, although that cost could be reduced by only improving a section.The problem we have up there is Modock Hill Road is a well traveled road, said homeowner Tim St. Pierre. St. Pierre said ongoing development has concentrated more traffic in this subdivision.Its not a quaint little area anymore, he said.St. Pierre deemed the worst part of Modock Hill Road to be a section between Townline Road to the west and Allard Hill Road to the east. DegliAngeli said he is researching the price for reconstructing this segment, as well as the cost of tarring that segment without reconstructing it.Conway lacks a dust-containment program for the towns 17 miles of gravel roads, and dust containment would not solve the roads washboard condition, DegliAngeli added.St. Pierre hoped Conway and Madison could work together on road improvements. Bill Chick, road agent for Madison, confirmed that Madison plans to install underdrain and replace pavement on Townline Road, tentatively next year if the budget is approved. Madison also tentatively scheduled ditch work on Allard Hill Road. St. Pierre wondered if the Townline Road work could coincide with an upgrade of Modock Hill Road.However, Conway operates under a construction plan, and the soonest Modock Hill Road could enter the schedule for reconstruction is 2009, DegliAngeli told selectmen.Selectmen noted the difficulty of juggling projects in the schedule.I certainly understand the concern they have, Selectman Karen Umberger said of road users, but she added that she was nervous about deviating from the construction plan.Everyone who built a house up there knew this was a gravel road, she said.Sires said the purpose of the construction plan is to maintain paved roads, not to pave gravel roads. He suggested the town develop a plan if selectmen want to pursue a schedule of paving unpaved roads.In other business: Selectmen voted 4-0 to accept a $1,000 donation to Conway Police Departments K-9 program. Thor, a 23-month-old Dutch Shepherd, and Sgt. George Walker are partners in the program. The K-9 team is the first for Conway Police Department since the early 1980s. To avoid redundancy of road names along Forbes Drive on Birch Hill, selectmen voted 5-0 to rename the western reaches of Redridge and Attitash lanes as West Attitash and West Redridge lanes. A third spur, leading from Russell Lane, was determined to be a driveway and not subject to renaming. Selectmen appointed Carol Lyman to a three-year term and Phil Haynes to a two-year term as alternates to the conservation commission. Sires, in his town managers report, alerted selectmen to increases in the cost of Adelphia cable and Internet access service. The company alerted customers on Nov. 12 about rate increases which will take effect in January. The increases were attributed by the company to rising costs of programming, transport, labor, training, utilities and other services. Increases include, for analog service, a jump from $15.95 to $16.55 a month for broadcast basic service and a jump from $25 to $27.35 a month for expanded basic service. For digital service, increases include a jump from $16.95 to $19.45 a month for digital access with one premium service and a jump from $109.95 to $119.90 for the Adelphia Total Advantage Package.Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, selectmen did not meet Tuesday, Nov. 25. Next meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2.