Fullerton Avenue in the City of Newburgh is marred by several potholes. [KELLY MARSH/FOR THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD] ▲

CITY OF NEWBURGH — Let's put it this way, George Garrison said, the roads that don't need any work are the ones that were paved last year.

Garrison, the City of Newburgh's Department of Public Works superintendent, is looking toward the approaching spring paving season.

He hopes to repair 10 to 15 roads this year, he said.

The city is a few years deep into a 15-year, phased pavement improvement plan.

New York state mandates that streets with sidewalks must first be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act before they are paved, Garrison said, which is primarily why it is so costly in terms of both money and time to repair the many roads with sidewalks in the City of Newburgh.

Therefore, bringing sidewalks into ADA compliance is part of the improvement plan's first phase for road repairs.

Garrison said Phase 1 work has been completed on Montgomery Street, Broadway, Grand Street, Clinton Street, Forsythe Place and Nicoll Street.

His department wants to repave those roads in April or May as part of the plan's second phase.

The third phase will include more work on the sidewalks and curb ramps, which Garrison does not believe he will get to this year.

"That will probably be something that's put out to bid over the winter for next spring," Garrison said.

'Rough winter'

Public Works in Newburgh used about 50 tons of asphalt in the past month to fill, refill and patch potholes throughout the city, interim City Manager Joe Donat said.

Garrison explained it was the yo-yo-ing freezing and mild temperatures this winter that caused expanding asphalt to weaken and crumble into potholes.

"We had a really rough winter with our roads," Garrison told the City Council during its work session at City Hall on Thursday night.

Garrison asked the council to consider adding some particularly marred roads to the department's pavement improvement plan, such as Lake Drive, Fullerton Avenue, Little Britain Road and Washington Terrace.

He noted these streets are considered gateway roads into the city and are heavily traveled.

"These are just beyond repairing and doing potholes," Garrison said. "They need to be done. And there's going to be other ones."

Funding

Garrison is concerned about costs associated with the paving plan.

He estimated that phase 1, including the ADA-compliant curb ramps, cost between $430,000 and $450,000, and paving those roads costs an additional $330,000.

"This doesn't even include some of the ramps we did in-house," Garrison said, noting that tab only includes the cost of contracted work.

"Right now for what I want to do, we'll probably have enough money from CHIPS (state) and CDBG (federal), but like I told the council last night, if we want to keep this aggressive style, we've gotta have the money for it."

Garrison estimated his department gets about $300,000 a year in paving grants, adding that they could continue this aggressive approach for two or three more years before money runs out.

lbellamy@th-record.com