By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — The paving done on Middle Road needs to be fixed, according to a Naples selectman.

The topic wasn’t on the agenda. However, it was brought up during departmental reports.  

“Maybe this is the time to talk about Middle Road,” Selectman Ted Shane began, saying that Naples Maintenance Director Steve Merkle had mentioned in his report that there are some cracks in the new pavement on Middle Road.  

Last year, the improvement plan for Middle Road was a combination of geo-fabric and pavement in some of the worse areas.

The condition of the road was on the table during the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday night. 

Shane is employed as the Public Work directors in the Town of New Gloucester so he has some knowledge when it comes to roads and pavement. He drove to Middle Road to inspect it, Shane said. 

“What I noticed . . . when that road was rebuilt by P&K, the plan was for 20 feet of pavement. And, there’s 21-1/2 in most areas. Therefore, the shoulders of the roadare reduced greatly and probably the cause for the cracking on that shoulder,” he said. 

Shane is employed as the Public Work directors in the Town of New Gloucester so he has some knowledge when it comes to roads and pavement.

“It also tells me that if the pavement was stretched out to 21-1/2 feet, you probably don’t have two inches of pavement there unless they increased the tonnage of the bill — which I don’t think they did,” he said. 

“I don’t know what the fix is. I know what the fix is, but I don’t know if we are going to go that route,” he said. “It should have beentwo inches of face paving on that road.”

Chairman Jim Grattelo spoke.  

“So you’re saying you think it is cracking because it got stretched out; and it’s not really two inches,” Grattelo said. 
Shane clarified. 

“I’m guessing that there is not [2 inches]. The only way to do that [test the thickness] is to do a core sample,” he said. 

“It pushed the pavement out closer to the edge of the road and that is where the failure will happen. You can leave it the way it is and the fix to it is to have P&K come back and extend the shoulders and set the ditches back in that area, in that area only. There is only one stretch that is the issue,” he said. 

“Still, it is a lot better than mud season last year,” Shane said 

There was some discussion about having someone drill for a core sample to prove whether or not the pavement is two inches thick. 

Shane addressed the width of the road again.

“I know when we were talking about that road is was always 20 feet of pavement. The closer you keep you pavement together, the slower the traffic goes,” he said.