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SPENCER – Spencer Selectmen heard about the condition of the town’s approximately 98 miles of asphalt roads and what it would take to fix them.
Gravel and state roads were not included in the report.
A presentation by Joe McGuire of Beta Group Inc. took up most of Tuesday night’s meeting.
He noted that among Beta’s goals is to help communities better understand their needs through collected data and provide repair strategies to prolong the life span of roads.
McGuire explained how, last fall, a sensor was mounted to the top of a vehicle that drove Spencer roads, capturing data, first at 10-to-20-foot intervals, then in street segments and finally the entire street.
Somerville-based Cyvl uses a sensor and data processing platform that helps manage infrastructure with geospatial analytics and AI-enhanced data intelligence.
Using Cyvl’s proprietary algorithms and machine learning technology, pavement surface distresses are identified, he said.
From there, a score is assigned to each roadway as follows:
- 92 to 100 means the road is in excellent condition;
- 80 to 92 is assigned to a road that requires routine maintenance like crack or fog sealing;
- 65 to 80 is given to a road in fair condition that needs preventative maintenance such as surface seal or thin overlay;
- 50 to 65 means the road is in poor condition and requires minor rehabilitation and added strength to handle existing traffic; and
- 0 to 50 is reserved for a road in deficient condition whose base layers of pavement need to be rebuilt and where full depth reconstruction is required.
McGuire said across New England, the average score is about 68 to 70. Spencer’s current score is 70.11.
Breaking it down further, 19.43 miles need major rehabilitation; 19.77 miles require minor rehabilitation; 21.53 miles fall into the preventative maintenance category; 15.68 miles need routine maintenance and 21.10 miles do not require maintenance.
He outlined the estimated costs involved for each type of work ranging from $13.3 million and $4.8 million for major and minor rehabilitation, respectively; followed by $2.9 million for preventative and $245,246 for routine maintenance.
To maintain 1.3 million square yards, he said, it would cost $21.4 million, elaborating to say Beta fine tunes the cost by region.
McGuire noted that Chapter 90 funds are “a giant source for every town in Massachusetts,” but still inadequate to pay for the town’s needs. He said Spencer must determine what is affordable in addition to Chapter 90 money to “maintain or gain ground over the next five years.”
Chapter 90 funds amount to roughly $490,000 annually, he said.
He noted that Spencer’s initial score in 2020 of 57.30 had jumped to 70.11, an increase he called “fantastic.”
Also, when the town opted to bond for roadway work, McGuire said, “it was a huge win.”
He recommended a “balanced approach,” to the type of work handled over five years, such as putting 35% each towards preventative and minor rehabilitation and lesser amounts for routine and major repairs.
“Looking for the middle ground,” would put Spencer in a slightly higher position than it is now in terms of its roadways, McGuire added.
In answer to a question, Superintendent of Utilities and Facilities Pete Boria said most preventative roadwork is done by outside vendors and staff does work like filling potholes, clearing road edges and painting lines.
McGuire said the town can help by doing more preparation work in advance of the vendors. “The more prep the better. That’s where you can impact the (road’s) longevity,” he said.
About Beta’s experience, he said last year, they did 43 scans across New England and a total of more than 90 over the past five to 10 years, including a lot of repeat work.
He said communities will want to re-scan every three to five years and track the work going on in between to ensure “you are trending in the right direction.”
Selectman Tony Pepe said he is glad the state is allowing towns to use Chapter 90 for these purposes but is still “failing us,” because the amount is insufficient. He lamented putting the burden on taxpayers and said it is “depressing,” it would cost millions more to achieve significant improvements.
Selectman Ralph Hicks noted Governor Maura Healey is proposing a change to the Chapter 90 formula and although it would not be enough all at once, “it is still good news.”
Boria said he would work with Beta on a “plan of attack,” and take a “well rounded approach,” to address the roadway needs. He said they could start with preservation and move forward to rehabilitation and explore different means with staff whereby the town would not have to rely on outside vendors as much.
“A plan is very helpful to delineate what’s what and figure out a great way to attack it to improve the score,” Boria said.
If the town receives additional Chapter 90 money this year, Boria said it would provide a “good head start,” and he recommended saving the 2026 allotment for next year.
Boria added that he wanted to make the Beta data available to the public via a link on the town website as soon as possible.
