Continued erratic weather impacting Road and Bridge operations
A cold winter combined with a wet spring has made for some tough times on Arapahoe County roads this summer. The County’s Public Works and Development team is busy making repairs to flooded roads and filling potholes, all while completing spring street sweeping and starting summer paving.
With 40 percent of County roads in poor and very poor condition, the cold winter and a wet spring have exacerbated an already tenuous situation with properly maintaining roads, said Eric McKinnon, Road and Bridge manager.
The amount of damage caused to County roads due to flooding in May and June has caused Road and Bridge operations, which include general road maintenance and road grading, to fall six weeks behind schedule.
“The cold winter temperatures and the extraordinary amount of spring rain has caused a backlog of pothole repairs,” McKinnon said. “Crews are working to fill these troublesome spots.”
Water, ice or liquid is a detriment to roadways as ice expansion or running water can further deteriorate weakened pavement due to the weight of constant vehicle travel. The result are holes in the pavement.
Pavement patching crews in the eastern and western portion of the County have been working to fill 142 potholes that have been identified. So far 91, have been fixed.
The number of reported potholes for the first five months of this year is more than the 84 reported in 2022, the 90 reported in 2021 and 61 in 2020. Road and Bridge encourages residents to report potholes by filling out this form.
Based on Road and Bridge calculations, the average age of roads where the potholes are occurring on County-maintained roads is 19 years, McKinnon said.
“Potholes are more likely to occur on older roads,” he said. “When roads approach 20 years in age, pothole requests will increase significantly.”
McKinnon said that due to budget restraints for more than a decade, County road conditions are continuing to decline.
“As our roads continue to age and with our limited funding, maintaining adequate roadways will continue to be a challenge,” McKinnon said
The heavy rainfall has also taken a toll on numerous County roads as many remain closed due to damage sustained from flooding from storms that occurred at the end of June. A bridge just west of Deer Trail has also been damaged by heavy rain fall and has forced the closure of a portion of CR-38 as the bridge is assessed. Check the latest County road closure information.
Road and Bridge crews have been restoring these roadways, but efforts have been hampered by the amount of standing water that has remained.
Along with maintaining roads, Road and Bridge finished spring street sweeping in May. Operations this year included the sweeping of Valentia Street in the Four Square Mile neighborhood.
Due to heavy use of this street and parked vehicles, crews have been unable to adequately sweep for several years, McKinnon said. County workers removed more than 70 tons of debris that had piled up along the curb. County roads will be swept again in the fall.
Street paving operations are in full gear as crews are completing work in the Tall Grass neighborhood and started in the Four Square Mile neighborhood. More information about the County’s paving program is available at zouxigx.net/Pavement.
Photo Description: Flooding from heavy rainfall has caused damage to numerous County roads, including CR 26.
