City Of Danbury To Start Road Paving Early This Year

Got some good news for drivers, especially those that use the roads in Danbury. The city will be squeezing out some cash from the city budget, and plans on getting the road paving projects started early this year.

It's pretty easy around this time of year to have your car almost swallowed whole by one of the many pot holes that are all over the roads in Danbury. Not to mention all the expletives that you've probably uttered when you hear that thud after you totally nailed one of them.

Well, the City of Danbury is coming to the rescue, by using $1.7 million dollars from the budget to get the paving started during the spring instead of waiting for the next budget to be approved in the summer.

City Council President Joe Cavo sat on the budget committee, and made a motion to approve the early funding Thursday night at the City Council meeting.

Joe said the action was needed since the state doesn't fund the city for these types of projects until much later in the year. He told us how the whole thing came together:

The Mayor came up with an idea to try and get ahead of the paving this year. Instead of waiting for the money to come in, the city decided to appropriate the money now for paving, and not wait for July so the road improvements could start by the spring. The roads have gotten worse this year, especially after the recent cold, followed by the thaw, and we felt the work needed to be done sooner rather then later. So when the July budget actually goes into effect, we can allocate even more money for paving.

Mayor Mark Boughton told newstimes.com that the city wants to spend that money received through a state grant last year to jump start paving as soon as the weather warms this spring, instead of waiting for more funding which wouldn't be available till the fall.

Public Works Director Antonio Iadarola put it all in perspective telling newstimes.com:

We spend a lot of money on pothole patching when we really could move right into a paving program ... This is really geared to expedite that program, especially in the springtime as soon as the (asphalt) plants open.

Joe Cavo also told us that only so much is allocated for road improvements, but with all the roads that require paving throughout the city, anytime we can appropriate funds and get going sooner, the better it will be for area residents.