THE ROADWAY ISSUE 05 •
MAY 2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction • P. 1 Message from the Director • P. 2 Pavement Maintenance • P. 3
KEEPING YOU INFORMED This month's issue features information on pavement maintenance, work zone safety, the Pikes Peak Prepared App, and wildland fire preparedness. We hope this newsletter helps you learn more about how we serve you, your neighborhood, and El Paso County.
Maintenance Strategies • P. 4
Work Zone Safety • P. 6 Pikes Peak Prepared App • P. 8 Wildland Fire Preparedness • P. 9 Featured Projects • P. 10
Year-to-Date Stats • P. 11
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR J A C K
L A D L E Y
-
I N T E R I M
D I R E C T O R
This month we celebrated the 2022 National Public Works Week, May 15-21. The theme for this year is “Ready and Resilient”. Public Works professionals are always READY to serve their communities and are RESILIENT as ever in their ability to quickly transition from daily public works duties and react as first responders during natural disasters or to overcome trials seen in the field. Our Public Works professionals help keep our community strong by providing key and essential OUR PUBLIC WORKS PROFESSIONALS HELP KEEP OUR COMMUNITY STRONG BY PROVIDING KEY AND ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES.
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infrastructure services. They are constantly striving to make our community a great place to live and work. So please join us in celebrating these unsung heroes!
PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE El Paso County owns and maintains an extensive road network, which is one of its most valuable assets. Our roads contribute to the region's economic vitality and enhance the quality of life of those who live and visit here. They are a gateway for residents to go to work, take their kids to school, or go shopping. Visitors travel our roads to enjoy the scenic views, outdoor adventures, and all the things El Paso County has to offer. El Paso County Department of Public Works (DPW) maintains over 1,100 centerline miles of paved roads, which equates to over 2,300 lane miles. Centerline miles include both sides of the road, whereas lane miles are the individual lanes (2 or 4 lanes depending on the road). El Paso County is committed to a safe and efficient road network through cost-effective maintenance strategies that preserve and improve new and existing roads. Maintaining roads is a lot like maintaining a vehicle. If you don’t perform the inexpensive, routine oil changes, tire rotations, and inspections, you will end up having to make a costly major repair or replace the vehicle all together. It is not always possible to implement a “one size fits all” approach to maintenance. The Public Works Department uses a variety of maintenance strategies to preserve and repair roads. Pavement maintenance strategies range from relatively inexpensive pavement preservation treatments, such as crack and chip seals, to significantly more expensive overlays and reconstruction. PG 3
MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES There are several methods to maintain the quality and life of paved roadways. Depending on the condition of the road will determine the maintenance strategy. Below are some methods commonly used by El Paso County to maintain asphalt: CRACK SEAL In El Paso County, every paved road has cracks, with the exception of roads that were recently paved. Asphalt, like concrete, tends to shrink as it ages, causing it to crack. Crack Seal is the process of sealing cracks in roads with a hot polymer/rubberized bitumen sealant. The sealant prevents moisture and debris from getting into cracks and also reduces water damage to pavement structure. The best time to seal cracks is when the ground temperature is around 40 degrees. This is when the asphalt has contracted due to the cold, and the cracks are the widest. Crack sealing is ineffective when the ground is wet since the material used will not stick. Warm weather is also not the best time to seal cracks because it causes cracks to expand so that once the weather cools, the material will not stretch but rather split, ruining the seal. Another warm weather problem is that the material takes a long time to set. Because of this, the crew has to close the roads for longer periods of time to avoid the crack sealing material sticking to the tires of passing motorists, causing a breakdown of the seal. If a motorist gets crack seal material stuck to their tires, an "orange" type cleaner or WD-40 can help get it off. Crack seal slows the deterioration process of cracks and extends the life of the road by 3 to 5 years.
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CHIP SEAL: El Paso County has 225 centerline miles of chip sealed roads. Chip Seal is a two-step process that involves first applying asphalt emulsion and then a layer of crushed rock to an existing asphalt pavement surface. The chip seal process improves surface friction on the road and slows surface raveling and oxidation. Chip sealing can extend the service life by 5 to 7 years, delaying the need for resurfacing by 2 to 4 years. MILL & ASPHALT OVERLAY: Mill and Asphalt Overlay involves grinding up the existing asphalt and base material, removing it, and applying new pavement. The process can provide a new waterproof surface and helps to mitigate surface raveling. By sealing up small cracks, it can improve the ride quality and correct surface irregularities. Depending on the thickness, mill and asphalt overlay can extend the pavement life by 8 to 14 years. TOTAL RECONSTRUCTION: A Total Reconstruction involves removing the asphalt, replacing the subbase, and possibly removing and replacing the associated concrete, such as the curb gutter and sidewalk. The service life of a reconstructed road will be 20 years. But if not maintained, it will only have a service life of 16 years. Please visit the Department of Public Works’ Construction and Maintenance Page for more information on current projects: https://publicworks.elpasoco.com/roadbridge/construction-maintenance-projects/. The schedule for construction and maintenance projects are subject to change due to weather or resource availability.
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WORK ZONE SAFETY Work zones are an essential component of maintaining the roads of El Paso County. Work Zones are areas of roadwork activities that include workers, moving vehicles, road closures, and detours. The duration of work zones varies depending on the project. Although work zones are year-round, they are most common in the summer. Work zones help separate construction and maintenance activities from traffic, ensuring the safety of both road users and workers. The presence of workers and the movement of work vehicles, coupled with changes in traffic patterns, detours, and closures, increase the risks of crashes, injuries, and fatalities in work zones. Statistics in the United States, according to the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse and Federal Highway Administration: Between 2019 and 2020, fatal crashes in work zones increased by 1.4 percent. In 2020, there were an estimated 102,000 work zone crashes. In 2020, there were 774 work zone fatal crashes resulting in 857deaths – 117 of which were workers. Most work zone crashes are rear-ended collisions. Major contributing factors in work zone crashes include distracted driving, speeding, failure to yield to the right-ofway and following too closely.
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Work zone safety is everyone's responsibility. Every day, we want roadway workers to have a safe working environment, as well as travelers to get to their destination safely. Stay safe while traveling through work zones with these tips: Research your route before you get on the road. Use detours when possible, to avoid work zones. Pay attention to signage that indicates reduced speeds, closures, detours. Avoid distractions such as texting, talking on the phone, eating and drinking, changing the radio station, etc. Obey the posted speed limits. Do not speed in work zones. Stay Alert! Expect the unexpected. Watch for workers, drive with caution. Turn headlights on during evening and overnight hours Allow ample space between you and the car in front of you. Expect delays and be patient.
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PIKES PEAK PREPARED APP The Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management (PPROEM) has launched a new app to help the community prepare for disasters, Pikes Peak Prepared. The new app delivers vital information and tools, including digital guides, videos, news articles, checklists, and FAQs to help individuals prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies in the area. The app helps users stay informed about upcoming events and receive alerts from FEMA and the National Weather Service. In addition, the app features a space to build your own emergency plan customized to your specific needs. Pikes Peak Prepared currently features information on: • Wildfires • Winter Storms • Individual Preparedness including “build your plan” • Psychological First Aid • Preparedness for People with Access and Functional Needs • Readiness for Pet Owners • General Individual Preparedness Tips Additional resources, surveys, and announcements will be added regularly. Pikes Peak Prepared is available to download at Apple App Store or Google Play.
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PREPARING FOR WILDLAND FIRES Dry conditions at various times of the year greatly increase the potential for wildland fires. Protecting your residence from wildfire is a shared responsibility. Establishing defensible space reduces the likelihood of a home igniting by direct contact with flame or by exposure to the radiant heat of the fire. It also helps limit local production of embers and reduces the chance a structure fire will spread to neighboring homes or surrounding vegetation. Here are tips to develop defensible space zones around each building on your property, including detached garages, storage buildings, barns and other structures: Remove items that will burn from around the house, including wood piles, shrubs that are against the building, and wood mulch (use rock mulch instead). Replace cedar shake roofs with new lowflammability shingles. Consider replacing wooden siding with non-flammable siding or stucco. Have trees trimmed so branches are not over or near the structures. Keep roof gutters clear of debris. Remove fallen leaves/pine needles as soon as possible after they fall. For additional resources on how to reduce your wildfire risk, visit: https://csfs.colostate.edu/wildfiremitigation/protect-your-home-propertyfrom-wildfire www.wildlandfirersg.org/s/are-youwildfire-ready? or contact your local fire department. PG 9
HODGEN ROAD BRIDGE MAINTENANCE El Paso County will perform maintenance on the Hodgen Road Bridge beginning May 23. Hodgen Road will be closed between Winchester Road and Meridian Road North. Projects include bridge deck improvements, bridge roadway approach improvements and repaving on the bridge and roadway Hodgen Road will be closed west of Meridian Road North and east of Volllmer Road to through traffic. Hodgen Road will be closed completely at the bridge east of Goshawk Road and west of Bison Meadows Court. Drivers will be detoured to North Meridian Road for westbound and Vollmer Road for eastbound traffic. Stay up to date on this project and other roadwork in El Paso County by visiting https://publicworks.elpasoco.com/roadbridge/construction-maintenance-projects .
PROJECT AT-A-GLANCE
CURRENT ALLOCATED FUNDING PROJECT FUNDING
Road and Bridge
ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE
July 1, 2022
COMMISSIONER DISTRICT
District 1 & 2
WWW.PUBLICWORKS.ELPASOCO.COM PG 10
$120,000
WORK IN REVIEW (YTD) LANE MILES SERVICED
31
63
MILES GRAVELED
MILES DUST ABATED
3250
POTHOLES REPAIRED
CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUESTS
215
CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUESTS COMPLETED 400
300
200
100
0
Potholes (334)
Grading (174)
Signage (234)
Animal Removal Trash Removal (94)
(121)
TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUESTS (YTD 2022)
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EL PASO COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS 3275 AKERS DRIVE COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO 80922 719.520.6879 WWW.PUBLICWORKS.ELPASOCO.COM
