Blog

Jul 22, 2023

Morristown may stop plowing certain dead

News Editor Morristown may stop plowing dead end roads with very few homes on them, after the highway foreman said the road crews spend more hours keeping them clear than some longer town roads. An

News Editor

Morristown may stop plowing dead end roads with very few homes on them, after the highway foreman said the road crews spend more hours keeping them clear than some longer town roads.

An Aug. 3 letter from the town planning council to the town selectboard lays out the concerns of highway superintendent Kevin Barrows, who offered his thoughts at the council’s July 25 meeting.

According to council chair Etienne Hancock, the council agreed that certain dead-end roads that were being plowed and maintained during the winter do not meet the town’s minimum standards to be accepted as town roads. Some of those standards include having at least five lots with structures on them, exceeding 1,000 feet in length, and having an adequate turnaround area for town trucks and a designated area to dump snow.

The letter states that there’s even one dead-end road, Cloverdale Drive, that the town plows even though the property owner who lives there doesn’t even use the road in the winter.

“The once thriving dairy farms that required daily winter plowing are gone (ex. Lanphear Rd), the requisite number of homes required in the Town Road Policy no longer remain (Samoset Rd), and for some roads (ex. Stub Towne Rd.), the Town Road Crew services are no longer desired by the property owners,” the letter states. “For most other roads on this list, the Town Road Crew is in effect providing private plowing services for only 1 or 2 homes on short dead-end roads.”

The list of town roads up for consideration for discontinuance are:

“These substandard roads ended up on the Town’s ‘plow-list over the years for various reasons, though in the Council’s estimation, most are no longer valid,” the letter states.

The council asserts that the road crews spend more time on those short dead-end roads than on much longer town roads that meet the minimum requirements. Barrows estimates the town could save $20,000 a year if the roads were discontinued.

“Beginning the process now gives the residents on these roads the time needed to find private plow services for the winter,” the letter states.

News Editor

Log In

Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexual language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be proactive. Use the "Report" link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

Local news is important. It's the information that will directly impact your life because it’s going on around you, every day. Join our group of dedicated readers today ...

They’re here — the results of our annual 4393 Awards! Readers of our newspapers voted for their favorite restaurants, bars, ski shops, fitness pros, nonprofit organizations and so much more. We present this special section to our readers — both locals and visitors — and we hope you will enjoy it and refer to it throughout the year.

Plan a magical wedding day in Vermont, whether ablaze with fall color, capped with snow, or lush with the green of summer. If you're interested in learning more, click here.

Social Media Advertising - Sponsored Local Content

News, arts, events, community and more from the Vermont Community Newspaper Group.

Our weekly newsletters deliver the latest headlines, upcoming events and local information — straight from the newsroom!

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Would you like to receive our Chittenden County news updates? Sign up today!

Would you like to receive our Lamoille County news updates? Sign up today!