Badly damaged stretch of Delano Road soon to be repaved

MARION — After a particularly brutal winter which damaged many roads in town, the one in perhaps the worst condition will soon be repaved with funds from a grant secured by the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

The Select Board approved work on Delano Road between the intersection of Cross Neck and Point roads, replacing a stretch  Department of Public Works Director Jody Dickerson said “is not going to make it through another winter” otherwise. 

There are two culverts on the road which will be replaced at some point in the future, but there is no timeline currently in place. The Buzzards Bay Coalition has received a grant to design replacement culverts, which will be larger than the ones currently in place, but has no plans in place for a construction project.

Because of this, the Select Board agreed the road should be paved to keep it in usable condition even though parts of it will need to be cut into when the culverts are replaced. 

Select Board member Randy Parker said it would be best to pave the whole road since it so badly needs replacement, but wants to get an idea of when the culverts will be replaced.

“I’d be a little embarrassed if all of a sudden it came up a week afterward,” Parker said. “I think we should get a timeline — I'm not objectionable to rolling over them, but we should have a timeline when we’ll get the culverts in.”

Resident T. J. Walker supported paving over the entire road despite the anticipated replacement because it could be years until the project begins. 

“We don't know how long it's going to be. It could be 10 years before we actually get the money to make the repairs, but in the interim we really need to move,” he said.