Middletown Residents Petition Town To Repair 'Unacceptable' Road

Twenty five residents of J.H. Dwyer Drive are petitioning the town of Middletown to make repairs on the roadway that they say is an unacceptable condition.

Decades of cold patching on the drive have resulted in potholes and rubble littering the roadway and front lawns of the neighborhood.

J.H. Dwyer Drive is a stretch of road on Middletown's west side that 35 families call home. The road culminates in a cul-de-sac, which is one of the features that petition organizer and J.H. Dwyer Drive resident Walt Clausen has gone against the drive in terms of expediting repairs.

"I know we're not a major road in terms of a thoroughfare, but residents of our road do pay over $250,000 in taxes every year," said Clausen.

In the 25 years that Clausen has called J.H. Dwyer Drive his home, he has never seen any major repairs made to the road - all that has been done in the way of maintenance are cold patches.

J.H. Dwyer Road is reportedly scheduled for repair sometime in the next three years, according to Middletown's Capital Improvement Plan. Repairs are estimated to cost $1.5 million.

After Clausen discussed the condition of his road with Thomas R. O'Loughlin, director at Middletown's Department of Public Works, street sweepers and DPW employees were on the drive within days for a minimal cleanup.

"I think they did okay," said Clausen. "I think they are stuck with the general fund as far as budgetary and planning is concerned, his hands are tied. It is a tough situation to be able to tell people when is he going to fix it."

Roads in Middletown are in the process of being re-evaluated. Depending on the results of the surveys, Middletown's roads are rated and scheduled for repair. Most Middletown roads on the current repair schedule were evaluated in 2007.