Rep. McLaughlin works with state to help lower cost of local road work

CUMBERLAND — The town will be getting some help with the fixing of its roads thanks to an effort by Rep. James McLaughlin (D-Dist. 57, Cumberland, Central Falls) to coordinate planned work on several state roads in the town with the state Department of Transportation (DOT). “Basically, what happened was that is all started with Marshall Avenue,” McLaughlin explained last week. The town had made several attempts to fix problems with water mains and street fixtures in the road over the years and had to dig up several sections of the state maintained road on repeated occasions to make the repairs. It was eventually determined that street drains and run off problems were contributing to the road deterioration and a more comprehensive improvement would be need to resolve them. McLaughlin said he decided to meet with town sewer and water officials along with Mayor William Murray and research what could be done with the help of the DOT. The result, McLaughlin said is a commitment by the DOT to help with the improvement of 35.8 miles of roads in the town over the next few years. The work will include the overlay of pavement on the state maintain roads under a schedule that will be coordinated with the town’s planned improvements along those routes. The state has also agreed to cover the replacement of storm drains and manhole covers in certain areas of the improvement plan for what should amount to a savings of almost $1 million in work the town will not have to conduct itself, McLaughlin said. The planned work is expected to cover improvements of sections of Diamond Hill Road from Nate Whipple Highway to Chapel Four Corners, a stretch of Diamond to the new Public Safety Complex, totaling $800,000 and additional projects on High Street, Broad Street and Manville Road, McLaughlin noted. Murray said last week the scheduling of projects worked out by McLaughlin and the DOT would help the town save on its re-pavement costs when doing needed work in the roadways. “It will absolutely help us,” Murray said. “They are going to develop a scheduled for work that is coordinated with our municipal departments,” Murray said. McLaughlin said he would like to see other cities and towns pick up on his idea for having the state help communities in maintaining their roadways. “Having the state complete the overlay of pavement can save 38 percent of the cost of a project,” McLaughlin said. “The point for other cities and towns is to have your water department or sewer department work with the state and you can cuts your cost in half and only have to do it once,” he said.