The newly paved portion of Weimar Line east of Moser Young Road is already crumbling in certain areas, prompting some area residents to wonder about the quality of the job done.
But as far as Wellesley public works director Will McLaughlin is concerned, it’s all part of the plan.
“It’s not a big deal; we’ll fix it. We’re going to be closing Weimar Line very shortly to do the bridge and since it’s closed we’ll fix it all up,” he said, noting that the few problem areas are the result of wet gravel used during last summer’s paving project on the west side of Weimar Line.
The first part of the two-part paving process was done last summer. The resulting irregularities will be cut out and patched up in July, and the second layer of asphalt will be laid down in 2010.
“Any subdivision, any new construction you look at – it doesn’t matter whether the region does it or the city or MTO or anybody – any new construction like that where you’ve dug up, the road base is done one layer one year and then they let it sit and get driven on and whatever irregularities that show up get fixed. And then the final layer is paved the following year,” McLaughlin explained.
“I would rather it didn’t [crumble], but that’s why we put the base on one year and the top on the next – give it a chance to show us any weak spots.”
In 2010, portions of Greenwood Hill, Weimar Line and Gerber Road will get a top layer of asphalt.
A more imminent project, on which work will begin within the following weeks, is the replacement of the Weimar Line bridge – about a kilometre east of Greenwood Hill Road.
The 1940s-era structure will be replaced by township staff in the second week of July. While the bridge remains structurally sound, it requires several cosmetic repairs that, in total, would prove more costly than the installation of an entirely new span.
“To work on a bridge at that age is an expensive proposition.”
About 60 feet wide, the bridge runs perpendicular to the road, and measures roughly 13 feet high. The old concrete bridge will be replaced with a metal-plated one.
The replacement of the Weimar Line bridge is expected to cost approximately $145,000.
It was due to be replaced last year, but construction was prevented by a groundwater level that was about a metre higher than the bottom of the footings, said McLaughlin.
“You can’t dig when the groundwater level is that high. Mother Nature kind of stepped in there and kept us from being able to do it.”