The Town funded the consultant Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB) to produce two studies (available from DPW):
- Feasibility (2005)
- Surface Study (2008, comparing "soft" and paved surfaces)
The studies reported:
- Maintenance costs for soft surface paths are 10 times those of pavement
- Soft surfaces require more frequent attention
- The lifetime of a soft surface is half that of pavement
- Construction costs are similar because most of the trail bed construction is the same for either surface
Town typically pays for initial design and all maintenance
- Initial design is approx. 10% of total construction costs
- 12 Year maintenance (VHB) estimate for the stone dust (soft) surface is $226K
- 12 Year maintenance (VHB) estimate for paved surface is $20K
- The Town expects their maintenance costs to be lower in either case
- Our current paved Minuteman is expected to have a 20 year life span
- VHB conservatively estimated paved surfaces with 12 year life spans and stone dust at 6 years.
Mass Highway will pay for all construction costs if the trail meets their minimum requirements
- They view the Minuteman Extension as an extension of the existing Minuteman Bikeway and thus expect it to be paved
- Because Mass Highway uses public tax money to build 'shared-use' paths, they favor a surface that accommodates all the expected users
Bottom Line
- If paved, the Town can expect State and Federal funds to cover the construction costs and thus acquire the path for approx. $150-200K (design costs)
- If stone dust, in addition to the higher maintenance costs, the Town may need to provide an additional (approx.) $1.5M, e.g., through a bond and/or CPA funds to build the trail if the State rejects the proposal for a stone dust surface.