Mission:  To maintain public right-of-ways as necessary to promote the health, safety and welfare of the traveling public and Sadsbury Township residents.

History:  The Road Department is the oldest Township department and finds its origins rooted in the earliest form of governmental endeavors to keep "cow paths" or routes of passages now known as right-of-ways, passable.  The designation of Roadmaster or "public overseer of road repair", was recognized early on as one of the first public needs of a community as farm life gave way to the industrial age.  As elected officials and volunteer residents could no longer handle the workload of a growing township road system, the Roadmaster position became a paid position and was charged with maintaining the the "right-of-ways" supported by a road tax.  As demand for safe, year-round, passable right-of-ways grew, the Township has expanded the Road Department staff to a crew of three with a fleet of modern up-to-date road equipment.

Duties & Responsibilities:  The Road Department maintains forty three miles of road which include gravel, asphalt and tar and chip surfaces.  Repairs and replacement of road signs, traffic lights, guide rails, culverts, patching and road restoration are every day road department tasks.  Seasonal tasks, such as vegetation removal, mowing, sweeping, ice and snow removal add to the road department maintenance demands.  On any given day, accidents, weather conditions, and unforeseen problems may change the direction of the Road Department daily tasks and/or bring them out after hours in response to emergencies related to the safety of the traveling public.

Seasonally, the department changes their efforts.  The winter months bring a need to be prepared for ice and snow removal.  Late winter and early spring brings a demand to seal road surface cracks, repair potholes and to complete vegetation pruning.  The summer season is the time when road resurfacing projects are completed.

Maintenance of Roadways

Snow & Ice Removal:  The Road Department plows and salts 43 miles of Township roads during inclement weather, including  cul-de-sacs. 

In a typical winter 23 tons of salt is required for major storms. 

Road Repair:  The Road Department is responsible for all asphalt patching and pothole repairs on Township roads.  The Township is not responsible for fixing potholes on State roadways.  The Township is not responsible for private roadways in new developments until such time as they are dedicated to the Township.

Each year the Department resurfaces various streets within the Township.  The funding for this work comes from the annual State Liquid Fuels Fund.  Roads are selected based on various criteria and needs, including surface conditions, traffic volume, condition of underground utilities, condition of abutting infrastructure, such as curbing and drainage swales.

Types of Paving Done Within the Township

Major patching:  Due to base deterioration, large portions of the roadway are cutout or milled out and replaced with new asphalt base.  Generally, these are areas deteriorated by frost conditions and are known as "blowouts".   At a later time this area is resurfaced with a wearing course.

Overlays:  Used where base is in good condition, but surface-wearing course is deteriorated.  Leveling courses may be applied and drainage problems corrected whereupon a wearing course of blacktop is applied.

Crack Sealing:  Cracks are sealed with asphalt sealant, generally preparatory to some type of a wearing surface treatment.

Cold Surfacing (Micro-surfacing):  A surface treatment applied 1/2" or less in thickness, utilizing a water based oil and aggregate slurry applied over the entire roadway.  This treatment is generally used where roads have a good solid super structure but the surface is in need of minor restoration to maintain safe driving conditions.  Milling of deteriorated areas and leveling for drainage may be done prior to this treatment.

Oil and Chip: This treatment is used on various Township roads.  The process allows for and application of oil and chip over the entire surface in order to provide a sealed surface and thus reduce the amount of water penetration into the roadway base.  It allows for sealing of minor but numerous surface cracks.

Miscellaneous Road Maintenance

Traffic Markings & Signs:  The Road Department is responsible for the installation and application of all municipal street signs and traffic markings.  The Department installs the signs and markings in accordance with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Rules and Regulations.

Vegetation Control:  The Road Department annually prunes and trims overgrown vegetation along its right-of-ways in order to maintain sight distances at corners, clear corridors on straight-aways, and to allow sunlight to penetrate to the roadway to affect a dry road surface.  A side benefit of this vegetation control program is a need for less ice meltor as shaded road surfaces are eliminated.