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Date: 2/23/2022
HUNTINGTON – After six years of applications by Highway Superintendent Charles Dazelle, the MassWorks Infrastructure Program has finally awarded Huntington $1 million to repair Route 66, Pond Brook Road.
Work will begin in the spring, and must be completed by July 1.
Dazelle said the repair will involve milling up to an inch and a half of the asphalt, repairing 12 catch basins and repaving the road.
“We’ve been hollering about it for quite a long time,” Dazelle said. He said the people who helped to obtain the grant include state Rep. Natalie Blais, Huntington resident Zachariah Chornyak, who works for Tighe & Bond and donated his time to help with the grant application, and Police Chief Robert Garriepy, who conducted the traffic accident studies.
Dazelle said it also helps to have Selectboard Administrative Assistant Jennifer Peloquin as the point of contact at Town Hall for emails and phone calls.
“It worked great,” he said.
Previously, Dazelle had applied for the grant every year, sending pictures, hammering state officials and fighting for the money.
“It took a lot of time and effort,” he said.
Part of the ongoing problem is that costs keep going up, while the state has kept its Chapter 90 highway aid budget steady at $200 million. That has left local highway departments, which depend upon state aid, unable to keep up with the deterioration of roads. There isn’t enough local taxpayer money available to make up the difference, Dazelle said.
“Select boards do their best, but as in Huntington, 69 cents on every tax dollar goes to the school,” he said.
Dazelle said he meets regularly with highway supervisors from all 351 cities and towns in the state, including a group in Berkshire County, the Mass Highway Supervisors Association and a tri-county group, all of whom have been lobbying for an increase in the Chapter 90 funding.
There was good news finally on Feb. 18, when the Baker-Polito administration filed a fiscal 2022 supplemental budget proposal that recommends supporting a range of infrastructure and climate-related needs in local communities, including a $100 million boost to Chapter 90, and $100 million to help municipalities repair roads from winter damage.
Also in the proposal is another $150 million in supplemental grants to fund climate change resiliency initiatives, including the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program. Huntington is currently undergoing the planning necessary to qualify for MPV grants.
Meanwhile, Dazelle said Route 66 is pretty far gone.
“We’re hoping to squeeze it in for $1 million,” he said, adding that it is close to needing a total reconstruction, and he could easily spend $10 million, if he had it.
“I’ve got my doubts. Blacktop, culverts – they want more done with less. It makes it very hard,” he said.
Dazelle is hopeful that the announcement from the governor’s office will mean more funding for Huntington’s roads, including $800,000 in damage done to some of the town’s 12 miles of dirt roads during a storm last July.
“We need money,” he said.