East Hampton Approves Road Repair Plan

East Hampton residents unanimously approved a $3.315-million road improvement package on Monday night.

A special town meeting was held at the high school to vote on the plan that would address 56 roads in town that are most in need of repair. The condition of several roads has been a source of complaints from residents.

The vote authorized the issuance of bonds or notes in an amount not to exceed $3,315,000 to finance the project.

“These are the roads that are in poor or very poor condition,” public works director Keith Hayden said at the June 14 town council meeting. “This program has 19.4 miles of roads which represents about a quarter of our paved roads.”

The bond package does not include improvements to gravel roads.

Hayden characterized the work in this package as “expensive, more intensive work” and “most of it would be done by contractors.”

“They’re quicker, they have better equipment than we do, they can interrupt traffic less, they have the larger trucks so they can get large quantities of mix,” Hayden said.

The work is expected to begin in the spring.

Other road maintenance work would continue to be done by public works using the department’s budget.

The project is expected to be completed in four years and the debt to be repaid in 15.

“I think this is a very important step for the town,” Hayden said. “After these four years, you’re going to notice the difference. The overall condition of the network is going to be improved. I think it is going to turn the corner for us and really have a positive impact.”