Rough Roads From Rowley to Salisbury
From Rowley all the way to Salisbury, an Investigative Look at the Worst Roads in the Area
A collection of photos taken by the TritonVoice of roads that were said to be some of the worst in the area.
Imagine you are driving to school in the morning when out of nowhere KERTHUNK as you go over the biggest pothole, leaving you on the side of the road, with a busted tire, waiting for AAA to come pick you up.
New England is notorious for having terrible roads, as with the changing seasons comes ice, snow, and rain, all of which slowly deteriorate the roads over time. This leads to Massachusetts having some of the worst roads around. According to wallethub.com, Massachusetts is the 44th worst state to drive in because of the quality of the roads.
It is no question that Massachusetts has some of the worst roads in the country, especially the area around Triton. But what roads are the worst? The Triton Voice took to the school halls to ask the students what they thought were the worst roads around here.
Garafalo Road in Salisbury almost always has potholes at the entrance to the road where it meets Route One, and Newman Road always seems to be flooded when the tide is high since it goes straight through the marsh. However, there are so many more roads in the area, it would be impossible for the Triton Voice to see them all on its own time.
“Stackyard Road,” was senior Luc-Danél Metivier’s response to what he believed was the worst road. “It’s just off 1A in Rowley.”
The Triton Voice drove to this road first as it was the first response, and it was definitely not a smooth ride; the road was bumpy, windy and was a rough ride down the road. (We did not get any pictures because the weather was so poor.) However, this was not the worst road by a long shot.
The Triton Voice released a survey to find the worst roads in the local area. A lot of the responses indicated that the town of Rowley has the worst roads.
When driving to the streets that were mentioned in the survey, the roads in Newbury/Byfield weren’t bad. There were few potholes and some cracks, but the roads just tended to be curvy. In the woodsy part of Newbury, where Ash and Moody Street reside, the roads were steep and had many hills.
Route 1 is notorious for being in poor condition. Cracks riddle the pavement but potholes are infrequent. However, due to the high speed limit of Route 1, a tiny pothole could cause a lot of damage to your vehicle.
The most-damaged road in the area was Rolfe’s Lane in Newbury, by far. Water-main breaks cracked the road, making it dangerous. The road felt as though you were on a dirt road, filled with potholes and not a single smooth section. These types of roads can cause serious damage to a car, and need to be driven on very carefully to avoid severe damage.
Especially in the winter time, drivers need to be careful so they do not pop a tire or crush a rim on a pothole, as the roads get particularly bad at that time of year. Senior Diego Fernández said Route 1 is normally in poor condition, but especially so in the winter.
This is very true, and many of the potholes will not be patched until the weather clears up again in the spring months. This means that you are at risk of serious damage throughout most of the winter as you drive to school, and need to be particularly careful. During the summer, the roads are in relatively better condition, but there are certainly exceptions to this.
One funny finding from the survey was learning that Triton’s own parking lot (near the cafeteria) had its own array of cracks and potholes.
Overall, drivers need to be careful when driving through the area. Watch out for potholes and bumps in the road because they can seriously mess up your car, and cost you a lot of money. Just keep that in mind the next time you are speeding down Route 1 trying to get to school so Mr. Allen doesn’t mark you late for first period!
My name is Michael Fish, a senior at Triton High School and a staff writer for the Triton Voice. I am interested in writing about stories that will help...
My name is Joshua Lind. I am a 17-year-old, tri-citizen senior at Triton High School. I am currently taking Mr. Allen's journalism class. I like to write...
