The city of Breezy Point has lots of activities and things going on, on a daily basis. One of the more routine and continual matters this year seems to be road maintenance particularly when it comes to drainage. As you all know we live with granular soils here. You know, sand and gravel. We have some areas with limited clay and also areas of peat soils but the sand and gravel create the most problems with erosion.
After almost every rain event of any significance we get calls to fix the road to deal with an accumulation of materials from erosion or a wash out of a section of roadway. The majority of or road system was built without adequate drainage systems. In some instances drainage was provided for when the roads were originally built but over time erosion of materials has filled these drainage ways. In addressing these public works is constantly on the lookout for problems and responding to calls. We attempt to get grading of these roads done when needed and practicable. We have had some successes is solving problems over time. We have had setbacks where every rain event causes problems.
We continue to accomplish these efforts but as we move forward a couple of things need to be looked at. The first involves the construction of paved roadways. The city in the distant past has just paved over existing roadways. This provided a durable surface but really didn’t deal adequately with drainage. We’ve been looking at these issues with any project to make sure drainage is a part of the project so we can reduce the ongoing problems for residents as well as public works.
The other thing, that is more of a long range project, is that of a storm sewer utility or improvement districts. Here we’ll take a big picture look at storm water runoff and find solutions that can be maintained and provide better utility into the future. This effort hasn’t taken a priority yet but will be something the city intends to look at in the future.
Thank you for your patience with these issues. Our public works crew does a great job but with 65 miles of roadways to maintain they are at times stretched thin. We don’t inspect every roadway daily so your calls are welcome but also keep in mind the solutions don’t always come easy.
