Does anyone know if the list that describes the 'rating' of the town's roadways is available? I think it would be of great interest to know what the town believes are the roads with the poorest conditions, so that we can begin to get a sense of what the long term paving needs are (e.g. not just which streets this year, but where are the needs greatest and in what condition are the town's roads overall. Thanks in advance.

The roads in Belmont are the worst in the area. People who come to visit me joke that they can tell they've crossed over the Belmont town line due to the conditions of the roads. The general opinion is that all the money in the town is spent on the schools. But is this really the reputation that the town wants - good schools but horrible roads?

Not to defend because our roads ARE deplorable but the reason why Trapelo hasn't been touched is that it is due for massive rehaul starting this spring. Federally and state funded project will have the road completely reconstructed from the Waltham to Cambridge line....

What I never ever understand is why oh why, when they finally repave a road, does it seem like within a year they have allowed some utility to come in and dig up a big part of it, then do a horrible job of repairing the road? It's no wonder that some roads are undrivable, between the insane amount of underground utility work, the tremendous backlog of roads needed work, and the general winter conditions. But it sure doesn't seem like it has to be this bad. Question: does it cost Belmont more/less/the same as surrounding towns to repave roadways (per foot, say)?

Joe, here is information on the Trapelo road project (not sure what the latest info is): http://belmont.patch.com/articles/bid-goes-out-on-trapelo-belmont-repair-this-week

Joe, to follow up on tmp's post, I think there is also some information on both the town's and the Mass Highway Dept's websites. To my knowledge, the reconstruction goes from the Waltham line on Trapelo to the end of Belmont Street (i.e. to Mt Auburn). From what I've seen, this project is significant in nature -- much more than just road resurfacing. We'll see -- part of me is quite skeptical.

To your question on the church, I think it stinks. But, as the developer says, nothing we can do to stop him. I happened to be by there just as the main part of the steeple was coming down -- very, very sad.

http://www.mhd.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgid=content/projectsRoot&sid=wrapper&iid=http://www.mhd.state.ma.us//ProjectInfo/