Chipping away at Latham Road

The needs of Latham Road have been on and off the Town's radar for years. It's an important connector road, allowing quicker travel from Rt 5 in North Thetford to Rt 113 on Thetford Hill and from there, immediately onto I-91. 

After a long period of neglect, the northern 1.2 miles beginning at Route 5 were reclaimed and repaved around 2016 with the plan to add the final 1½ inches of protective asphalt top coat the next summer. But that didn't happen. Instead, all of Thetford's road funds were allocated by the Selectboard to repairing the aftermath of a torrential storm in July 2017 that washed out a great many Town roads.  

The southern end of Latham remained in very bad shape and in need of a total rebuild in some places. However it wasn't till 2020, under our second Town Manager, Guy Scaife, that the selectboard acknowledged that repaving this portion of Latham Road was a top priority and that neglecting the top coat had been a major omission. The recently repaved north section was cracking and beginning to sink in places. But thanks to the pandemic and other circumstances, like Guy leaving to return to Iowa for family reasons, it fell off the radar again.

By 2022 Bryan Gazda, our fourth Town Manager (if you count interim manager Tom Yennerll) had inherited Latham Road. In that time the north section had further deteriorated. Quoting the engineering firm Stantec:  “... Because 5 years has elapsed since the base course was placed there are locations where the pavement requires crack repairs and shim prior to the placement of the overlay pavement …” 

The required repairs were made to the entire road in 2022 to the tune of $1,101,946, a combination of the Town Paving Fund, a VTrans Paving Grant ($200K), the DPW fund balance, and leftover proceeds from the bond raised by the Town to repave Rt 132, Thetford’s other “problem road.”

Come 2025, our fifth Town Manager, Brian Story, noticed that cracks were again beginning to appear in Latham Road. Anxious to protect this major investment, he did some research and settled on a pavement preservation treatment known as chip sealing offered by the Massachusetts company All States Materials Group (ASMG).

Chip sealing consists of an asphalt layer into which is embedded crushed stone of a specific size that provides a skid-resistant, durable travel surface. The asphalt preserves and protects the aging surface, fills minor cracks, and adds a layer of waterproofing. Globally, various versions of chip sealing are the most widely used pavement preservation treatment.  

In Vermont chip sealing is moderately common on roads that don't experience a high volume of traffic, such as rural roads or town highways. However VTrans almost always uses conventional hot mix asphalt and pavement crack sealing to preserve road pavement on state roads because they see heavy use.

Chip sealing as practiced by ASMG includes the use of "eco-friendly," water-based asphalt emulsion that is applied at a lower temperature than standard asphalt, releasing fewer fumes and saving energy. It is applied at a rate of about 0.44 gallons per square yard of road surface, followed by 20-25 pounds of 3/8 inch crushed rock per square yard. This is immediately rolled to embed the stone in the asphalt. After 2-5 days for the asphalt to cure, the road is swept to remove loose stone pieces.

Residents reported that though the road felt slightly rougher than the usual paving job, it was eminently driveable. However, by spring of 2026 there were signs of crumbling where the chip seal surface interfaced with Rt 5. 

Now, by mid-June, the yellow line on the old pavement under the chip seal is starting to show through due to surface wear at the joint between the two road lanes. 

The Town Manager called in ASMG, and last week they inspected the defects together. The company agreed to make amends by milling the road surface along the center line and at the Rt 5 junction and applying fresh chip seal. They will also completely resurface one section in the vicinity of Makala’s Way.

Expect delays in July-August when ASGM will be working in Vermont and will make good on Latham Road.

Photo credit:  Li Shen