NAUGATUCK — Drivers who have noticed the rough, uneven asphalt where Hoadley Street meets Rubber Avenue should expect it to be paved this spring — and then paved again, and again.
Because asphalt plants were closed, the section of road was never fully paved after borough crews replaced a pipe in December to alleviate flooding in an Aetna Street house, said James Stewart, director of public works. The road will be paved as soon as the plants re-open this month, but will be torn up again sometime this spring when Yankee Gas replaces a main line, Stewart said.
Stewart said he ordered the road to be paved this month because residents have complained about driving over its severe bumps and ridges.
“It’s a situation that certainly I don’t want to leave for a month,” Stewart said. “I don’t want to leave it any longer than it has to be.”
The gas company will have to re-pave the road after its work is done, but that asphalt will likely settle into the trenches around the pipes, Stewart said. The whole of Hoadley Street, however, has been on deck for new pavement for years and will receive a third round of treatment after Yankee Gas is through, Stewart said.
Derek Kowalowicz, who owns a multi-family house at 191 Aetna St., has complained to the borough repeatedly about flooding in his basement. He filed a $28,000 insurance claim last August, saying his basement flooded twice in two days with sewage from the town’s line.
“This is an ongoing problem with the town, and once again the water went to a level where it caused major damage,” he wrote.
The public works department found the line was too small to handle the water flow, especially during storms. Wastewater flowing down Aetna and Hoadley Streets backs up in a manhole near the house, causing it to overflow into the basement, Stewart said.
In response, the borough replaced the pipe, which was six inches in diameter, with one 10 to 18 inches in diameter, Stewart said.
“Whether this pipe is going to solve the problem forever, I don’t know,” Stewart said. “As a first step, it needed to get done, absolutely.”
The borough’s insurance adjuster, Eric Martin of Trident Insurance, could not be reached for comment to determine whether Kowalowicz’s claim was paid.
More pipes could potentially be replaced in the densely populated area, Stewart said. Borough employees still have to determine whether rain water is leaking into the sanitation lines, either from sump pumps or cracked stormwater pipes and manholes. Such situations are more common in older neighborhoods, such as the streets off Rubber Avenue, Stewart said.
The borough is currently out to bid for a consultant that will develop a facilities plan, which will include recommended repairs to the borough’s water and sewer systems, Stewart said.
