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Tower Hill Road paving project draws to a close

Tower Hill Road paving project draws to a close

Putting the finishing touches on a three-year project to convert the 1.9 miles of Tower Hill Road from dirt to a paved surface, the town crew paused for a photo on Thursday, July 25. Operating the excavator was town Highway Superintendent Megan Chamberlin. Town crew Foreman Paul Voorhees, at left, and crew member Darren Peterson were applying traprock to control runoff on the shoulders. Asphalt paving was completed in June.

Photo by Leila Hawken

WASSAIC — After three years of work and planning, a paving project along Tower Hill Road in Wassaic is nearing completion.
In recent days the town crew has applied finishing materials to disperse water runoff along the 1.9 miles of asphalt surfacing. The road extends from Route 22 in Wassaic to the Town of Washington on its far end.

Over its long history as a narrow, hilly dirt road, Amenia Highway Superintendent Megan Chamberlin commented, Tower Hill Road was a safety concern for residents and emergency vehicles alike. Mud season was always a problem. If the dirt road had failed to freeze in the winter, town plows struggled. A heavy rain would require immediate attention, Chamberlin said.

The project began in 2022 with repairing the road, replacing drainage pipes and enlarging the culverts to control drainage. In 2023 a base was applied to serve as a binder for the asphalt layer that was applied in June of this year.

The finishing work by town crews in July has applied materials they saved from a Wassaic road project in 2021 and adding traprock to the road’s shoulders to further control the erosive effects of water runoff, Chamberlin said.

The road improvement project was supported by state funding leading to an appropriation of $398,090, and a donation to the town of $277,000 from Tower Hill Road Works, LLC.

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