At least one of Newcastle's “worst roads in town” is likely to get resurfaced.

The Newcastle Board of Selectmen agreed to allow Superintendent of Roads Steve Reynolds to begin looking into paving one of what he called one of the town's worst roads.

The original plan was to begin work on the North Newcastle Road, which is a three-mile stretch of road that runs from Sheepscot Village north to Route 215.

But there wasn't enough in the capital improvement fund to do the length of North Newcastle Road, Reynolds said.

“I suggest we (work on) Cochran Road, which is the next worst road,” he said. “We can put North Newcastle off for a few years and instead reclaim Cochran Road.”

At 4,450 feet long, Cochran Road is less than a third the length of North Newcastle Road. Cochran Road is located near the border of Edgecomb and the Route 27 turn-off to the Boothbay Region.

Because of Newcastle's current debt, which runs until fiscal year 2017, securing more loans isn't preferred; instead the town would be better suited to simply allowing funds to roll-over year-over-year, Reynolds said.

Reynolds said that when roads are “reclaimed,” or completely redone from structure to surface, in one pass they tend to last longer than when done in sections. Reynolds proposed that Cochran be done in such a fashion in the present, and North Newcastle in the same manner in the future.

But the thought of waiting years before a solution can be a tough sell, Board Chairman Brian Foote said.

“It's hard to say 'We're going to do Cochran, then do nothing for years,'” he said.

In the end, the board of selectmen was in favor of allowing Reynolds to speak with contractors about pricing the Cochran Road project. Should the town decide to spend money to redo Cochran Road, North Newcastle Road wouldn’t go forgotten, Reynolds said: work would continue on the road to make it drivable.