Street Maintenance

Westminster has a program to replace curb, gutter and sidewalk adjacent to citizens' properties. Streets being reconstructed resurfaced, or sealcoated will have all deteriorated concrete replaced in conjunction with pavement improvements. The City funds 100% of concrete replacement as part of the annual street improvement project.

Crackseal

One of the most cost effective tools in the Street Division arsenal of pavement maintenance strategies is the Crackseal Program. The few dollars spent in sealing pavement cracks to prevent moisture from entering the base/sub base of a roadway return big dividends in prolonging pavement life, reduced pavement failures and fewer potholes.

Two Street Division crews perform Crackseal operations throughout the winter months, October through March while pavement cracking is at its widest.

Pavement Repairs

Patching of asphalt pavement failures, water break excavations, and valve repair excavations involve:

   1. "Scoring" or cutting the pavement beyond the distressed area.
   2. Removal of distressed pavement (debris asphalt is returned to asphalt producer plants for recycling).
   3. Base/sub-base stabilization and compaction.
   4. Applying "tack oil" to all existing pavement edges bonding the new pavement to existing pavement, and providing a seal.
   5. Placement and compaction of new hot mix asphalt material.

Simply stated, potholes are caused when the pavement or the material beneath it, called the base or subbase, cannot support the weight of the traffic it carries.  Two factors are always present in such a failure; water and traffic.  Freeze and thaw cycles cause cracking in the pavement allowing penetration of moisture into the base and sub-base causing fatigue that will not support heavy traffic.

The city has three on-going programs established to prevent potholes and to deal with the pothole problem, including the Resurfacing Program, the Sealcoat Program, and the Crackseal Program.

The City of Westminster takes pride in a 24-hour response to pothole reports. Calls can be made to the Street Operations Division at 303-658-2501 or e-mail us to report a pothole within Westminster's city limits.

To report potholes on state highways - e-mail CDOT at info@dot.state.co.us.

State-maintained roads include: 120th Avenue, Wadsworth Parkway, Federal Boulevard, U.S. 36 and Sheridan Boulevard from 69th Avenue north to 88th Place (Westminster maintains Sheridan Boulevard from the north side of the U.S. 36 bridge at 88th Place north to 120th Avenue).

The Street Division has the responsibility to install and maintain approximately 14,000 traffic control signs in the city. All installations must conform to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). This program requires trained personnel to maintain all existing standards and to stay abreast of any new requirements. To minimize traffic accident and injuries, it is of the utmost importance for the City to develop and implement traffic control measures and maintain these devices.
 
The Street Division is also responsible to maintain the city’s 468,400 square feet of traffic lane lines, 73,924 square feet of crosswalk/stop bar pavement markings, 1,001 directional arrow pavement markings and 23 railroad crossing legend markings.

The city has utilized the services of a private contractor to perform citywide street sweeping since 1985.  The street sweeping contract is administered by street operations division staff to assure quality control and adherence to the specifications set forth in the contract.

Citywide street sweeping rotations are scheduled for April, July, October and November.  See schedule/map (602 kb) for details on dates for your area.

During the winter months, following each snow storm, sweeping efforts are concentrated on snow removal primary and secondary routes to clean up deicing material particulates within a four day period.  The practice is performed in compliance with Regional air Quality Council PM10 Air Quality Regulations.

Stormwater Drainage Maintenance

The Street Operations Division crews handle open drainage and storm sewer maintenance.  There are currently 249 open drainage channels in the city for which the street division is responsible and inspects annually.  Debris that may interfere with drainage flow is removed immediately.  Crews remove silt deposits and vegetation impeding open channel flows as required.

Presently, there are 1,600 storm sewer inlets in Westminster requiring inspection and cleaning.  One-third of the inlets are cleaned yearly on a rotating basis.