BOSTON — A new state fund setting aside $7 million for dirt roads is much-needed and overdue, according to state Rep. Natalie Blais.

On Tuesday, Gov. Maura Healey signed a $1.39 billion supplemental budget, which includes funding for maintenance and repairs of unpaved roads across the state. The unpaved roads fund will allow towns to purchase equipment and supplies, as well as pay for engineering and contractors to support this work.

“We were able to, for the first time ever, create a fund for unpaved roads. You guys have been fighting for this forever, and we were able to get $7 million in Fair Share funds for unpaved roadways,” Blais told the Colrain Selectboard in a legislative update last week. “It will go to the maintenance or reconstruction of unpaved roadways or for communities to purchase equipment to maintain roadways.

“Conway, for example, is trying to purchase a grader, and a grader costs anywhere between $400,000 for used, $600,000 for new, and that’s not something that we’ve been able to share,” Blais continued. “We do a great job of sharing stuff, [but it] turns out graders aren’t that easy to share because they’re so massive.”

According to Blais, 346 out of the state’s 351 cities and towns have at least a few unpaved roads, and in western Massachusetts, particularly the 1st Franklin District that she represents, unpaved dirt and gravel roads are more common and expensive to maintain.

“In 35 communities in Massachusetts, unpaved roads account for over 40% of total roadway miles,” Blais wrote in a statement. “With extremely limited Chapter 90 funding, the maintenance and repair of these roadways has become increasingly challenging for cash-strapped municipalities.”

In Franklin County, town officials say the funding is a welcome gesture that will help highway departments maintain even more of the county’s unpaved roads. According to a 2024 report from the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, 26% (1,627 miles) of Franklin County’s roads are unpaved dirt or gravel roads.

“We’ve certainly got a few dirt roads,” Deerfield Town Administrator Christopher Dunne said. “It’s great to see the state making a gesture for a challenge that really impacts our rural communities.”

Dunne said that in eastern Massachusetts and more developed towns, dirt roads are often seen as quaint, but anyone who lives on a dirt road or manages a highway department tasked with maintaining a dirt or gravel road knows they require a lot of time, effort and money to keep them in working order.

“We have about 90 miles of roads and about 50% of that is gravel,” Colrain Town Administrator Diana Parsons said, noting the town’s need for a grader.

Voters at Conway’s Annual Town Meeting earlier this month approved purchasing a used grader for $200,000. Selectboard member Chris Waldo said equipment like graders are essential for maintaining gravel roads, but for small towns like Conway, these purchases are often unaffordable.

“At our last Town Meeting, we just approved purchasing a used grader,” Waldo said, emphasizing the often prohibitive cost of new equipment. “For a town the size of ours with the budget we have, that’s not a viable purchase.”

Waldo said rain, snow and other weather events can wash away gravel and cause damage to dirt roads, so winter and mud seasons are expensive for the town. Conway has 64 miles of road and one-third of those are gravel roads.

He added that while maintaining gravel roads is expensive, paving them is also not feasible as this can cost more than $1 million per mile. Waldo said the new unpaved road fund could assist the town in keeping its unpaved roads functional.

“That would be huge for a community like ours,” Waldo said. “Anything the state is providing to help with maintaining gravel roads is greatly appreciated.”

The supplemental budget also includes $40 million to support small and rural communities with roadwork projects, with award amounts to be calculated by mileage. This will supplement the $80 million being added to the Chapter 90 fund, and $16.4 million for municipal bridges and culverts.

Corinne Coryat, a legislative aide with Rep. Blais’ office, said the unpaved road program will be administered by the state Department of Transportation as a grant program. Specific details of the program and a timeline for grant applications are still being worked out.

“We’re hoping we see it get off the ground sometime in the next year,” Coryat said.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.