Staley Road: Light at the end of the tunnel?

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Staley Road residents may be approaching a turning point in their quest for safe passage.

Highway Superintendent Jim Sedita has indicated that Staley Road is on his radar, and repairs and even some repaving could possibly happen in late summer or early fall.

For nearly four years, residents have pleaded for complete repaving and repairs to the road and its narrow, crumbling shoulders. They also have pushed for a solution to drainage problems on the town-owned and -maintained road.

At the end of Monday’s Town Board meeting, several Staley Road residents voiced discontent with what they say is a lack of progress toward safety for drivers and pedestrians.

On Monday, they complained that very deep potholes on the sides of the road have gone untouched.

But on Tuesday morning, Highway Superintendent Jim Sedita said his crews would be out Wednesday to patch the worst of the potholes.

And Sedita’s list for Staley Road from now through fall includes work on drainage, as well as paving at least a mile of the road, starting from Baseline and going west.

When contacted by the Island Dispatch, Sedita said, “Absolutely, I can have a crew out tomorrow to go up and down the road. Myself and the deputy (John Carncross) did go out two weeks ago and do some potholes. We’ll go out again tomorrow.”

Supervisor Peter Marston has previously estimated it would take $2.5 million to repair Staley Road. The town has applied for a federal grant toward that work.

Sedita said, “We’re working on bond money right now. And as far as Staley Road, probably within the next three weeks we’re going to start working on the drainage from Baseline heading out toward West River. And then, with hopes of possibly paving it, late summer into early fall – the first mile, from Baseline. It all depends on how the drainage and the ditching goes, because that has to go in place first.”

“However far I get – and that’s how far we’re going to try to get paved.”

At Monday’s Town Board meeting, it was all about frustration with the pace of progress. And two speakers compared the expense and relative necessity of the planned Veterans Park splash pad and the expense of fixing Staley Road.

Paula Sciuk said the Staley Road Steering Committee talked with town officials and thought, “We hammered out a really nice plan. We thought we had some hope, movement – and, crickets, crickets. It’s been four years – frustrated!”

Staley Road residents Sherry Kern and Jim Carlson also spoke up.

Carlson said, “There are places with 8- to 12-inch-deep potholes, right at the edge of the pavement.”

Kern said, “The kids on Staley Road can’t even ride their bikes, can’t walk, can't walk their dog. We’ve got cars zooming by. We still have potholes that deep that if you were to go off the road there to avoid something, your car would be a mess, you’d be a mess.

“Please, please, consider Staley Road as a priority.”

Sedita told the Dispatch, “We’re working on it, and I am getting bids for repaving, too. So, it’s not like I’m not doing anything.”