Shandaken is the largest Town in Ulster County. Our highway department has 63 miles of roads to maintain—not counting County and State roads that Shandaken Highway is subcontracted in parts to maintain. We also have 30 bridges in our Town—perhaps the most in Ulster County—bridges that Shandaken Highway is solely responsible for maintaining and re-building. Highway workers frequently get requests to pave/re-pave various roads and surfaces. I want to put in context some of the factors that determine what gets paved.
First and foremost, we have very limited financial capacity to re-pave roads, much less pave dirt roads. Even as our highway workers fall a little more behind each year on paving, we are strategizing to avoid waste. Superintendent Hofmeister is a Certified Floodplain Manager—one of only sixteen municipal leaders in Ulster County with such training. His particular set of skills ensures that Shandaken paving projects don’t become wash outs.
For instance, we are working on creating a site in Pine Hill for stormwater drainage so that the Pine Hill Community Center parking lot can be paved. The initial plan, funded by the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC), recommends conveying stormwater downhill, away from the Community Center, with plantings to filter run-off along the way. But, the Town has yet to secure a downhill location to be the end spot for filtration. Without putting a stormwater drainage system in place first, stormwater would very soon destroy the newly-paved lot, and likely damage the Community Center foundation too. We are doggedly working to secure an end site for stormwater drainage, and will update you as soon as that happens.
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