Supporters of two different road bonds agreed on only one thing at a hearing last Monday – nothing less than the safety of drivers is at stake in the outcome.

One $12 million bond has been placed on the March ballot through a citizen petition. It would fund the town road rehabilitation program for the next three years and forbid spending any of the money on Route 101 improvements.

A second is the Town Council’s recommendation for a $8 million bond, which would widen Route 101 and install a light at the Nashua Road intersection for $3 million, with the remaining $5 million going toward the road program.

Petitioners implored the Town Council for help at the hearing.

“I’m not asking you, I’m begging you to do something with this petition we have all signed,” said resident Dorothy Cameron.

Mark Stull, one of the petitioners, said the council had abdicated its responsibility to the town by fixing a state road.

“I’ve known some of you for years. I’m very disappointed in you,” he said.

The council recently heard another petition from residents of Edinburgh Drive, urging the council to move its repair up to 2008 instead of waiting one more year because of craters in their road. Cameron told the council that her road, Blackbird Drive, was “20 times worse” than Edinburgh Drive.

Stull, who also lives on Blackbird Drive, said poor conditions on his street force cars to go well below the posted speed limit and even pose a challenge for fire trucks or other emergency vehicles.

“That’s a safety issue,” Stull said. “Not to mention if you’re going out for a walk or a jog, you’re risking a broken ankle.”

Other residents defended the Town Council. Joleen Worden said residents need to be patient and realize that the roads could not all be done at once. Worden said Route 101, on the other hand, cannot be ignored.

She warned that a high school student, a teacher or someone else could get killed at Nashua Road and Route 101, if the intersection is not addressed.

She said petitioners would “live to rue the day” if the $12-million bond passes at the expense of the $8 million one.

Roy Stewart, president of the Bedford Taxpayers Association, was worried about the opposite scenario.

If both bonds pass, he said homeowners hypothetically could face a steep tax rate increase of 90 cents per $1,000 assessed property valuation in 2009.

The $8 million bond would add 36 cents on the rate, while the $12 million bond would be 54 cents, according to Stewart.

The Town Council said it would be up to the next council, which forms after the March election, to decide what it would do if it was authorized to bond up to $20 million. The council said it would not have to bond the full amount at once.

Stewart also disputed that some town roads were as bad as residents said they were. “I think safety has to take priority over a few bumps in the road,” Stewart said.

The council ultimately voted 4-2 in favor of not recommending the $12 million petition bond. Councilors Michael Scanlon and Kevin Keyes were the dissenters.

The bond will still appear on the ballot on March 11 and the vote of the council will not be reflected on the ballot, which has already been printed.

Bob Young, who was in the majority vote, said the $8 million alternative would still maintain the road program. But, he said, the town also had to ensure safety at the Nashua Road intersection. “We have two commitments here, two responsibilities here,” said Young.

The road program was instituted in 2003 and in recent years has been funded at a pace of $5 million a year – $4 million in bond money for rehabilitation and $1 million out of the operating budget for maintenance.

Current funding expires in 2008. The $8 million bond would extend that at least a year, while the $12 million would guarantee three more years at the same level, but would not take care of the safety and traffic problems on Route 101.

Scanlon said the council had to honor its commitment to residents who had voted for the first two road bonds, totaling $20 million, and had yet to see their local streets repaired. If the town did not continue the road program, he said roads will start deteriorating faster than they can be repaired.

Scanlon also said it would be OK if both bonds passed, taking exception to the claim that he was not worried about safety. “I care about safety,” said Scanlon. “My son goes to that high school and I don’t want anything to happen to him.”