CHENANGO COUNTY – Over the last four years, budget cuts and flooding have hindered the pace of county road resurfacing to the point where it could soon become an expensive problem, several county officials said at a Public Works Committee meeting Thursday.

Randy Gibbon, the county’s Director of Public Works, said normally his department, on a six-year cycle, resurfaces roads (sealing, stone oiling, or black-topping) at a pace of 50 to 60 miles per year. Since 2003 however, due to cutbacks – combined with setbacks created by last June’s flood – Gibbon said highway crews have been reduced to hitting roughly 35 miles per season, putting them two to three years behind schedule.

Gibbon added that only eight miles of county road received attention last year due to a focus on the damage caused by June’s high waters.

“You can defer money for them (roads) for five years,” Gibbon said. “It will catch up.”

Gibbon explained that if delayed, normal road maintenance – using sealant and stone oil – often escalates into digging and re-paving with blacktop, which can mean a tenfold increase in normal expenses.

“If you don’t catch it when it first starts, it costs you a lot more money and a lot more effort to fix it,” he said. “It’s a vicious cycle.”