Lamppostings

Roadway maintenance projects are coordinated and completed by the Town of Parker each year to repair and preserve our streets. Here’s a look at how the process is managed by the Public Works Department.

Colorado, while wonderfully sunny and mild, is a very harsh environment for roads, mainly due to the freeze/thaw cycle that we experience for a significant portion of the year — one of the longest in the continental United States. This, along with the intense sun and traffic volumes, cause wear on the road surface.

The four most common methods of roadway maintenance within the Town are as follows:
• Slurry Seal — A mixture of water, asphalt emulsion and crushed rock are applied to existing road surface, providing a new durable surface.
• Chip Seal — One or more layers of asphalt are applied and covered with a layer of crushed rock onto existing road surface, providing a new durable surface.
• Mill and Overlay — The top layer of a road is removed by a roto-mill machine after which new pavement is placed, providing a new surface.
• Reconstruction — The entire pavement section of the road is completely removed, road base may be replaced or improved, and a new surface is installed using either asphalt or concrete.

The Town of Parker’s aggressive approach to maintaining the surface keeps the roads from reaching a point of complete deterioration (failure) and reduces common issues such as raveling, potholes and ruts. The most cost effective way to maintain our roads is to perform chip or slurry seals on a frequent basis to preserve the surface. mill and overlays are performed on a less frequent basis since the cost is much higher than chip or slurry seal maintenance methods. 

The reconstruction of a road is necessary when a complete failure has occurred and other maintenance methods are no longer an effective option. The Town’s roadway maintenance goal is to avoid reconstruction since the associated costs are significantly higher than the other methods. Also, the reconstruction of a roadway is a very intrusive operation and often times causes significant traffic delays.

Please contact the Streets Division within the Public Works Department at 303.840.9546 with any questions related to the Town’s roadway maintenance program.