Updates on Road Paving: Correspondence between MSCA and Division of Highway Services

Repaving

Progress is being made by President Bob Gross and our neighbors in getting the County to repave the southern portion of Montgomery Square, also known as Regent Park, and Regency Estates. This opportunity to lobby the County was presented by the recent water main replacement project, which left the roads in even poorer shape than ever. According to the following exchange, repaving is now in the plans in the 2010 construction program, which actually begins in July 2009.

From: Notter, Elizabeth
To: Robert Gross
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 11:26 AM
Subject: RE: FY10 Schedule

Dear Mr. Gross:

Yes, the material is hot mix asphalt (HMA), synonymous to me with “paving”. Unfortunately, we do not receive our funding for FY10 until July 1, 2009, so the earliest that construction would be able to start is mid-summer. We’ll be able to give you a more precise time in late spring.

Although our program through which residents within a project area may negotiate directly with our contractors and have driveway aprons (or even driveways) replaced at what would be the County’s price has been limited to the concrete curb/gutter repair/replacement program, we would like to offer this service for the paving program as well. However, this would depend on the availability of the contractors, their willingness to participate, and, above all, the assurance that none of the privately arranged work would affect the productivity/timing of the paving project. Mr. Paugh plans to investigate this further and was pleased to receive your suggestion.

I hope this information helps.

From: Robert Gross
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 21:05
To: Notter, Elizabeth
Subject: Re: FY10 Schedule

Thank you for your email. Can you please confirm for me the type of paving? My recollection from my conversation with Mr. Paugh is that it will be hot asphalt. Also, I believe Mr. Paugh stated that the paving could begin as early as this spring or summer. Can you please double check on this? I am pretty sure that the main water line replacement project, at least for the Regent Park area, will be completed by then.

In addition, several homeowners have expressed an interest in repaving their driveways in conjunction with this project. We would greatly appreciate any additional information you might be able to provide as to this possibility. We have been thinking about polling the community to see how many homeowners might be interested in repaving their driveways in the hope that we could then try to negotiate some sort of group discount with the contractor. I was wondering if this was ever done before.

We look forward to working with you and Mr. Paugh.

Again, thank you for your email.

From: Notter, Elizabeth
To: rjgross@comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 5:11 PM
Subject: FY10 Schedule

First, please allow me to apologize for not sending this email yesterday. I hope a day late is better than not receiving the written information Mr. Paugh asked me to relay to you.

As he described in his phone conversation with you, the Regent Park and Regency Estates communities are scheduled for paving during the FY 2010 construction season. You should be receiving the newsletters describing the process and providing contact and other information about thirty days prior to the beginning of the work. As I know he told you, we are looking forward to beginning this project and we hope you will be pleased with the results.

Elizabeth Notter
Division of Highway Services
Department of Transportation