The Monterey Street Committee has begun efforts to form a street paving plan.
Street Committee Chairman Larry Bennett said some streets need a total pavement replacement. Others have potholes that need to be repaired. Bennett said the final decision will be up to the town’s aldermen.
“Each alderman in their ward will go around in their ward, and look at the streets and see which streets need what,” Bennett said. “And then we are gonna report that back and just compile what we got and see, and probably take care of the worst streets first before anything else.”
Bennett said he believes the town has an estimated $133,000 in the budget for street paving. Bennett said that since the cost of paving has gone up significantly, the budget might only be enough to do some patchwork.
“Back in the mid-80s, sometime a mayor we had at the time, he paved every street in Monterey for about $1 million,” Bennett said. “And I don’t know how that got paved, but that’s what I was told. Now, to do the same thing, someone said, probably $15 million. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but I’m sure it will be a lot more than $1 million, and we don’t have that kind of money.”
Bennett said most of the streets in Monterey are in fair condition. However, Bennett said some streets have deteriorated for multiple reasons.
“A lot of times over the years, when you have to cut into the road to fix a waterline, or a sewer line, or a drain line, or whatever, and then you try to fix it back, it always seems like it leaves a hole there, you know, it sinks or whatever,” Bennett said. “We have a lot of that in the town. where they had to repair the streets. In other places, it’s just a road that’s just worn out. When they go by and salt the roads and everything, that’s just terrible things for asphalt.”
Bennett is a fourth ward alderman and said the fourth ward is not in too bad of shape compared to other wards in the town. Bennett said more discussions by the board of aldermen will take place in July. Bennett said the goal is to have as many smooth streets as possible for the town.
