KENNEBUNK – The Board of Selectman voted unanimously on Dec. 22 to prepare data for budgetary discussions regarding a long-term road infrastructure program.

Several funding options were presented with the motion to approve a three-year plan which would “identify roads for improvement as well as provide a yearly summary for review by the BOS and Budget Board,” said Selectman Shiloh Schulte.

Data within the presentation gave a current summary of the road conditions and suggested that 24 percent the of roads in Kennebunk are in very poor to serious and dangerous conditions.

An estimated $1.1 million would be needed for road improvements, $500,000 of which would be for selected improvements.

Selectman Ed Karytko said there has never been a plan for renovation on roads that has been organized and properly addressed. Selectman Chris Cluff disagreed.

“We can only do so much,” Cluff said. “Certain assumptions can be made about a road, but we won’t know full costs and issues until they arise, like most problems encountered when working on projects.”

Schulte said roadwork has increased by 50 percent on a year-to-year basis, but it’s not enough anymore. “The budget gives us $1.1 million to work with over a period of however many years, but it doesn’t take into consideration the problems we can’t detect until we find them,” he said.

Selectman Dan Boothby said the documentation on the paving program would serve only as a tool to assist in the decision-making process of how to go about the road infrastructure project.

Variable issues such as drainage problems, the age of the road, sidewalk installments and the historical significance of the road can all change the course of reconstruction as well as change the budget estimate.

Regardless of conflicting views, the board agreed to build a model for discussions in January and February based on the total sums stretched over a three-year time span.

“The key thing to remember is that if it took 40 or more years for the roads to deteriorate like this,” said Vice Chair Richard Morin, “it may take just as long to get this project finished.”