By RYAN O’CONNOR
roconnor@yourneighborhoodnews.com

Four months after voters overwhelmingly approved improvements to White Rock Hill Road and Page Road, the town of Bow is nearing completion on the projects.

With the smoother pavement, however, comes the reality that people who already speed down those roads will only be encouraged to go faster without worry of frostheaves or uneven road surface.

“Going downhill, gravity takes over and it is difficult to avoid speeding,” said Selectman Harry Judd, referring to White Rock Hill Road and, to a lesser extent, Page Road.

Police Chief Jeff Jaran said the department is aware of the additional risk of speeding and is taking extra steps to prevent it.

“We’re looking to move our patrols and assets where they’re needed, but we have an entire town we need to be concerned with,” said Jaran. “We’re looking at target problem areas during the peak speeding times and trying to figure out where to place our resources.”

Whether White Rock Hill and Page roads were repaved, speeding has always been a concern.

“We were addressing it then, but obviously we are trying to be a little more creative as far as use of patrol time,” Jaran said.

At Town Meeting on May 10, residents approved $550,000 to reconstruct White Rock Hill Road and $220,000 for the shim and overlay of Page Road.

The improvements to White Rock Hill Road, which began last year from Bow Center Road to the top of the hill, were completed this summer from Page
Road, past the high school, to the intersection of Knox and Logging Hill roads.

Judd said White Rock Hill Road’s reconstruction, which included improved drainage and the elimination of frost heaves,  was past due. He said he is pleased with the results of several years of saving and planning.

“It was in very rough shape and long overdue, but we’ve planned this for five years and we were able to do it right by putting aside a small amount of money each year,” Judd said.

Page Road, on the other hand, did not need a complete reconstruction, said Judd. The town saved a lot of money by repaving and shiming the road,  rather than going forward with a total reconstruction.

“We definitely needed it and we believe we will get at least 15 years out of it and, by doing so, save the town over a million dollars,” said Judd. “(Public Works director) Chum Cleverly said we would probably only get another two years or so out of it.”