With more than a combined $9.5 million needed for road repairs in Mattapoisett and Rochester, an unknown estimate in Marion and a lack of funds overall, local officials are looking for federal and state funding to alleviate costs.

“If you’ve been anywhere in the village, you’ll see we’ve been well underway,” said Mattapoisett Town Administrator Mike Gagne.

Portions of North, Barstow and Water Streets have already been under construction in the $4.5 million road improvement plan for the town center.

However, the town received only $228,000 from the state to aid the repair costs this year, Gagne said.

Recently Gagne and Highway Surveyor Barry Denham toured Main, Water and Beacon Streets and Marion Road with an engineer, to begin forming a plan to submit to the Massachusetts Highway Department for funding under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act allows towns to seek funding for repairs that will keep in the scope and character of the town, said Gagne.

Gagne said they looked at drainage, curbing and other special considerations such as historical areas and trees that need to be preserved.

The town will submit a scoping document to the Highway Department for feedback.

After receiving that feedback, Gagne said, “we will hold a public meeting to solicit the public’s feelings in regards to that project to get public comment as to what abutters and residents desire.”

Although getting projects approved for funding is often a slow process, Denham said, “we’re looking at costs probably around $1.5 to $1.75 million to refurbish that section of roadway. If we could get it done with state and federal monies, we could use our money for other things.”

As for progress on road repairs, Denham said Barstow Road, which runs past Center School and the Mattapoisett Library, will be paved and ready to go before classes start up again in a few weeks.

In Rochester, Town Administrator Richard LaCamera said the town is looking at $5 million needed in road repairs.

Given that the town only receives $300,000 a year in state funding for such repairs, LaCamera said the time has come for the town to seek further assistance.

The $5 million needed accounts for repairs not completed in town over the past several years due to tight budgets, LaCamera said.

Officials will be applying for grants to meet costs, but have also begun discussions on a rather “unpopular” alternative.

Earlier this month, LaCamera suggested that the town officials consider adding a Proposition 2½ tax override to April’s Town Election ballot.

“I know people don’t like the discussion, but there’s no way we can keep up,” LaCamera said.

Tax overrides for road repairs have previously appeared on election ballots, but Town Clerk Naida Parker said that the overrides have never been passed.

“We will look at the possibility,” LaCamera said. “We can continue with the $300,000 that we get from the state, but this doesn’t get us very far.”

Marion officials are also seeking outside funds to repair roads, including County Road, which is adjacent to Routes 105 and 6 and winds through Marion, Rochester and Wareham.

Last month, the Selectmen agreed to apply for a grant from the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District.

Selectman John Henry said that by fixing County Road and improving the overall appeal of the area, the towns may be able to attract more residential and commercial development on the road.

“We could have a lot more development coming in so there’s a lot of incentive to improve the road,” Henry said. “This has been years and years talked about, but nothing has ever come of it.”

Rob Zora, Superintendent of Marion’s Department of Public Works, said the town is in the process of conducting engineering studies on Ryders Lane and South Street in the Village to determine how do go about completing the necessary repairs.

Last May, Town Meeting approved $60,000 in the department’s budget to be used for small road repairs, Zora said.

Zora said the town is also in negotiations with engineers from Camp Dresser and McKee to develop a master plan for repairing all of the roads and sidewalks in town.

Once the studies are completed, Zora said that the town would have an estimate of the costs for the repairs, which they would then take to Town Meeting for approval.

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