By Charlie Deitz
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-955901.mp3
Pittsfield, MA – As cities through out the Northeast crawl out of one of the most severe winters on record, officials now have to turn their focus to the thousands of potholes left behind. WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz reports that the City of Pittsfield is considering an approach that's as friendly to the environment as it is to city coffers
With the price of oil on an upward slant, caused in part by unrest in the middle east, everything from gas to food is following suit. Asphalt isn't immune to the inflation either, the oil based road surfacing material is seeing production prices and demand grow as cities start to look at filling potholes and doing routine road repair work.
The picture is of a Bagela Asphalt Recycler, on display at the Pittsfield Highway department, so town officials can see it in action. The machine, which looks like a small cement truck, is chewing up old asphalt and spitting out basically new asphalt, Pete Bruno is Pittsfield's Commissioner of Public Services, he says the 129 thousand dollar recycler will easily pay itself off.
The highway department is leaning on the city council to approve funding for the machine as early as next week. City councilor Christine Yon was on hand for the demonstration, and is leaning toward a yes vote.
According to Bruno, aside from the 100 mile round trip to Springfield to get the asphalt, they have to wait until next month to do it. Should the city council approve funding, they could start filling potholes next week, Bruno says they have about a zillion.
Not only is the product cheaper, Bruno says it's as strong as what's called virgin blacktop, so you fill a hole and it stays filled. At the same time, it keeps all of the wasted material from ending up in landfills underground. Former North Adams Mayor John Barrett, acting as a consultant to Pittsfield's public works says the city won't have to wait until they amass a large quantity of blacktop.
Barrett also points out that he only introduced the idea of the asphalt recycler to the city because he found some extra public works money in the city's bank account. Bagela Sales director Greg Harla, according to Harla, the cities of Poughkeepsie and Rochester have similar products, as well as the state of Connecticut for their highway department.