Vibe Spring2025 - Flipbook - Page 40
Russ Lanoie photo
Russ Lanoie photo
ABOVE LEFT: Class 6 Albert Road in Madison. ABOVE: Russ Lanoie is pictured with his trademarked FrontRunner attachment, which can be mounted in place of a
plow and used for grading dirt and gravel roads and driveways. ABOVE RIGHT: Eroded soils and silt plumes from unstable sources, including surrounding roads and
improperly managed construction sites, can easily be seen here entering Big Pea Porridge Pond. See www.peaporridgepond.org/watershed-management-plan for
additional information and photos. RIGHT: Hiking trails without proper draining quickly become unpassable during mud season. SectionHiker.com photo.
A good road has a strong, well-drained
base; and a hard, compacted surface with
a crown to shed water rather than let it
A poorly built dirt road can be more
than an annoyance for motorists. Lanoie
says runoff from roads and other devel-
Conway plows 10 miles of dirt roads in the
winter and maintains a total of 16 miles in
the other seasons, according to informa-
“A good gravel road is much more maintainable than a lousy paved road—think
frost heaves—because it can be regraded once it dries out in the spring.”
sit, according to Lanoie. He also notes
that Conway has good public dirt roads
and does a good job with them. However,
freeze-thaw cycles make maintenance
a never-ending task, he says, forcing
the town to play Whack-a-Mole to fill or
regrade soft spots. Lanoie adds, “A good
gravel road is much more maintainable
than a lousy paved road—think frost
heaves—because it can be regraded once
it dries out in the spring.”
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opment contaminates waterways. He
has a poster-size photo that he uses for
presentations that shows the confluence
of the Swift and Saco rivers in Conway.
The Saco has noticeably more silt than
the Swift because the Saco runs through
more development. Lanoie also points to
the development near Big Pea Porridge
Pond, which has tainted the watershed. A
non-profit association has been formed to
help mitigate the problems.
tion supplied by the Public Works Department. Common problems are washouts,
potholes, and washboard conditions. Mud
season can include closed roads.
The town grades its roads, adds
gravel, and clears ditches as routine
maintenance to mitigate problems. In the
spring, it imposes a 10-ton weight limit
for vehicles on dirt roads. Permits can be
obtained for heavier trucks and a bond
posted to cover any damage.
Jackie White, project administrator in
the Public Works Department, remembers
her first year in the department when she
took a call from a resident who told her a
dirt road was “all stoved up.” I went to Paul
DegliAngeli, the public works director at
the time, and asked him what it meant. He
laughed and said it meant the road is in
bad condition with potholes. I grew up in
this town and somehow never heard the
term “all stoved up.” We still laugh about
that sometimes.
Bill Marvel also grew up in Conway,
and on one of its dirt roads: Davis Hill Road.
Mud season meant about six weeks of
parking a half mile from the family’s house
and slogging up the hill carrying groceries.
MWVvibe.com / @mwvvibe
