Mayor Chris Johnson (right) and Town Engineer Michelle Chase (left) present the town’s pavement management plan.
Reminder Publishing screen capture by Tyler Garnet
AGAWAM — Mayor Chris Johnson and Town Engineer Michelle Chase met with the City Council at its Dec. 16 meeting to present the town’s pavement management plan.
Johnson talked about the pavement management plan and said, “probably the most often asked question that I get from many [City Council members] and residents is questions regarding when streets are going to get paved, when sidewalks are going to get repaired, things of that nature and as I’ve explained to many, Agawam’s had a pavement management program, I think it dates back to my original tenure.”
The plan is updated on an annual basis, but Johnson talked about thew monetary problems with attempting to fix each problem street or sidewalk.
He said, “While I have to preface these remarks by saying, I wish we had millions and millions of dollars to work on our streets but we simply don’t. Probably over the last 15 or 20 years, we haven’t gotten an appreciable increase in money from the state for road paving. The amount we get in Chapter 90 money pretty much has stayed static probably for the last two decades.”
Agawam receives approximately between $800,000 to $825,000 annually in Chapter 90 funding.
Local funding in the current year has been increased from $500,000 to $600,000 for street improvements, road materials and sidewalk rehab and extension.
With costs rising, and a lot of roads to maintain, Johnson said the money doesn’t go as far as it used too. Asphalt and labor costs continue to increase and outpace funding sources and roads are continuing to deteriorate faster than maintenance can keep up.
Since 2012, mill/overlay cost has increased 108% and road reclamation has increased 143%.
Chase said she is a member of the Joint Transportation Committee where annually regional engineers and DPW superintendents meet and submit a letter to the state asking for more Chapter 90 funding.
“It’s not just Agawam, all the other municipalities are also having the same challenges,” Chase said.
In Agawam, there is approximately 147 miles of local roads the town has to maintain with MassDOT maintaining Main Street, River Road, a portion of Route 57, the rotary and Route 5.
“We’re responsible for the overwhelming majority of the road miles in town,” Johnson stated.
Chase explained the road maintenance selection process. Pavement management refers to the process the Agawam DPW uses to plan the maintenance and repair schedule for the network of roads and other paved facilities throughout the town.
She explained, “What we do is, the other engineers and I we basically try and get out around town, we take a look at streets throughout the year. In the winter season, we have a freeze thaw from February through April and during that time, we check to see if there’s any additional cracks or streets that are falling apart but we have various criteria we go through. We assess roads and label them either good, fair or poor.”
Factors that are considered when prioritizing streets include pavement, type of repair or maintenance needed, average daily traffic volume, proximity to schools, proximity to other road work, other planned utility or construction projects, budget and input from the public.
Johnson and Chase talked about different pavement management techniques and preventative measures the town currently uses to fix their roads and sidewalks.
“I think since 2016, we’ve engaged in this practice in trying to keep roads that we’ve recently resurfaced or repaved in good shape for longer periods of time,” Johnson said.
They also laid out the rehabilitation, reconstruction and preventative management projects that took place in 2024 including mill/overlay, reclamation, delta mist, crack and fog seal.
Chase said the town is currently in the process of looking to hire a company to scan its roadways to compile a highly configurable comprehensive pavement management program consisting of a 360-degree scan of all the roads in Agawam to collect a pavement condition index PCI.
The town is currently choosing between three companies.
In the late winter/ early spring of 2025, Agawam will be reassessing the five-year plan and the StreetScan pavement condition data in Spring 2025 will allow the town to reassess work in 2026 to 2029.
Johnson presented the projected paving and maintenance plan for 2025 but stated they are subject to change to do factors like budget or updated pavement conditions.
