FARMINGTON – The public works director will know better what he can do to fix Ramsdell Road when bids come in for the Middle Street project.

Three residents of Ramsdell Road sent selectmen a letter regarding the “poor shape” of a section of the road where they live. The residents wanted to register their request that the town take appropriate and immediate action to correct the situation.

Resident Robert McEntee said the road is essentially the northern outlet of the Mosher Hill Road connecting with Route 27. The road is paved from Route 27 uphill to the residents’ section, and then becomes immediately unpaved for about 1 mile until connecting again with Mosher Hill Road.

Motorists are using the road as a shortcut, McEntee said, and at times are traveling the dirt road at speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour. The town’s crew has been “very diligent” in plowing and grading the road, he said.

The high speed of travel and the road maintenance creates clouds of dust, which infiltrate homes, vehicles and lungs, according to the letter.

“It’s an enormous nuisance as well as clearly being unhealthy for children and adults alike,” the letter stated.

Residents asked that 300 yards up the hill be paved.

Public Works Director Mitch Boulette said he might be able to do something this year but didn’t know what yet.

He said it would cost about $17,125 to get the section ready for pavement and to pave 300 yards.

He said he didn’t know how to pay for it, but he hasn’t done a lot at this point on the Middle Street project so he might be able to scale back some of the under-drainage this year to gain some money.

Boulette said if a road project exceeds $100,000, the town needs to have engineering work done. If it is under $100,000, he said, he could do his own engineering. He said he was working on a figure for Middle Street that could save $7,000 in engineering fees.

Boulette said Ramsdell Road is not in his five-year plan, but agreed it is getting more use and becoming built up. McEntee said he didn’t want the town to use the money that would be used on Middle Street for Ramsdell Road if it would hurt the original project. He just wanted the town to consider fixing it in the future.

The Middle Street reconstruction would enter its second year of a three-year project this year, Boulette said, and he might be able to do something without jeopardizing the Middle Street project depending on the bids.

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