By Rebecca Goldfine,Staff Writer
As local economy has improved, residents have been more willing to spend money.

NORWAY – The town’s infrastructure is in better shape now than 10 years ago, according to Town Manager David Holt, who has just compiled a report on the status of the roads, sewer lines, sidewalks and bridges.

With this optimistic announcement, however, comes a note of caution.

Holt said in an interview Monday, “What I worry about is, we do this report and say we’re doing better, and someone living on a poor road will think it’s the regular baloney you hear from the government.”

He explained that the report is not meant to be propaganda, but rather a factual survey that will help officials make decisions about what maintenance needs to be done in the future.

“There are still roads that need to be fixed,” Holt said, adding that the town is constrained by limited time and money. About 15.8 miles of Norway’s 53 miles of paved roads are considered poor, 15.7 are rated fair and 21.5 are rated good, he said. Holt and the town road commissioner based their assessment of road and bridge conditions on the Maine Department of Transportation’s rating system.

The town’s dirt roads aren’t faring quite as well. Of the town’s 14.3 miles of unpaved roads, all but about two miles are rated poor.

Overall, 37 miles of mostly paved roads have been improved in the past decade, Holt wrote in his report.

The town has $700,000 to spend in 2006 from a $1 million bond approved by voters last town meeting to improve roads. In the next couple of months, officials will decide which roads will be worked on based on their condition and amount of traffic. According to the report, work is planned in 2006 for Town Farm Road and Wiley Road.

Also, five of Norway’s five bridges rated poor have been rebuilt in the last 10 years and now are considered “excellent,” according to Holt’s report.

One bridge – French Bridge on Morse Road – still requires work.

The town has at least seven miles of sidewalks, about four miles of the sidewalks are considered excellent and those have all been worked on since 1999. For the sidewalks, a little over one mile is listed as poor.

And 45 percent of the sewer lines are in excellent condition. “Work done in the last decade on Route 26, Beal Street, Main Street and Lake Road has improved the overall rating of the system,” according to the report.

Holt said the reason things are looking up in town is that citizens have been willing to spend more money. “It is through their continued commitment of resources that have made things better,” he said.

In general, the local economy is more flush now, too, he said. Sixteen years ago, when Holt started in his job, unemployment was greater than 10 percent, he said, but currently it hovers around 5 percent. “The economy was so poor that we didn’t make great efforts to spend money on infrastructure.”

And now? Holt said, “We’re not caught in that state of flux with the mills just closing. We’re further along the line with the transition. Whether or not they want to admit it, many families are better off.”