Bethlehem officials have received a multitude of calls and emails this winter about the conditions of main roadways leading into the town. However, they said there is little that can be done because the roads are state-owned.
Bethlehem supervisor John Clarkson said he has received a larger number of calls this year than last. Highway Superintendent Brent Meredith said he has received 15 to 20 calls, as well as emails, 90 percent of which are complaints about potholes on Kenwood Avenue. The rest have been directed toward Delaware and Elsmere avenues.
“I have seen it for years as a commuter on the road,” said Clarkson. “You can tell immediately when you’re on the state versus the town sections.”
As a result, the town placed a notification on its website explaining that all of the pothole issues are on roads owned by the state, and there is little that the town can do.
“We’ve been contacting the state Department of Transportation, as well as telling residents to contact them,” said Meredith. “If we’re getting these calls, I’m sure they are as well.”
Meredith said the complaints are not going unheeded.
Maintenance crews from the state DOT have been out to repair the roads three times since Jan. 2. Meredith said the problem has been this winter’s sporadic weather and that the cold patches are not meant to be a permanent fix.
“The issue there is (the state isn’t) obligated to do any road maintenance. That comes right out of the highway law,” said Meredith, talking about the frequency of which the state needs to pave specific roads. “They can do it whenever they want, basically.”
Clarkson said when he first came into office in 2012, he wanted to see if the town could take over maintenance for those roads. He found that the cost would be too great, and there are liability issues.
“It would take something like another $25 million, and it would take over the town’s entire capital plan,” he said.
Clarkson said town officials have been in on-going conversations with the DOT to come up with a solution to the problem, but nothing has been established yet.
“The roads need to be repaved, and I hope they will do it within the next few years,” he said. “Ideally, they should be re-built … there should be no roads left in that condition.”
Bryan Viggiani, a spokesman for the Capital Region office of the state DOT, said he did not know when those roads were last fully paved but that state officials are aware of the issue.
“Depending on funding coming through, we’re looking to get out there within the next few years,” he said.
In the spring, state maintenance crews are expected to return to repair the patches using hot mix.
Meredith agreed with the supervisor that a full replacement will be necessary if the roads are left uncared for too much longer, and it will be costly.
“I know that doesn’t make the concerns go away, but we don’t really have any option as a town,” said Meredith. “I wish we could do it ourselves, but we can’t.”
To report a pothole on a town road, residents can visit the Town of Bethlehem website and click the “report a concern” tab. For potholes on state roads, residents can call 1-800-pothole.