Asphalt Curbs

Lambert Road, the street that I grew up on, was reconstructed and repaved earlier this summer. That’s a good thing. Prior to repaving it, bicycling on Lambert Road was a bone-shaking ride. To the relief of residents, a number of other roads or sections of roads have been resurfaced, too. Most recently, one side of Farm Road approaching New Canaan High School from South Avenue was repaved.

But the resurfacing on Lambert Road, Farm Road and a number of other roads includes extensive drainage work and newly introduced asphalt curbs. Adding asphalt curbs is a bad thing.

Here’s why. The curbs channels all water into the catch basins. The pollutants that are picked up on the road by the rain are washed right into the catch basin and drainage system and travel via watercourses directly to Long Island Sound. The asphalt curbs prevent rainfall from dispersing into adjacent vegetative areas and recharge groundwater. Without curbs rainfall pollutants are filtered out through vegetation and subsurface soils.

Secondly, amphibians such as salamanders and bullfrogs have trouble getting over the steep curbs.

Third, the curbs incrementally add on to the price tag of each road-repaving project, while at the same time incrementally narrow our already narrow (prior to paving all but 180 feet of Lambert Road was 18 feet wide) roads.

Fourth, the curbs not only are displeasing to look at (just wait for the snowplows to make their mark on those curbs), but the curbs also act as a barrier to prevent bicyclists from having an option to pull off the road when a speeding car threatens to strike from behind.

Richard M. Stowe
President, New Canaan Environmental Group