Julie from Littleton writes, “What’s driving you crazy? There is a stretch of road that winds around off Wadsworth by SW Plaza on Crestline and Berry and Estes, and it’s very bumpy, pothole-y and just a mess of a road. And it’s been like this for years. They just patch it and let it get worse. Can you help get it fixed?”
That section of road that many use to get between Wadsworth Boulevard and Cross Drive — it turns from West Crestline Avenue to West Berry Avenue to South Estes Street — near Southwest Plaza is in rough shape, Julie.
The section of road along Berry Street in front of the Willow Ranch homes was really terrible. There is one specifically long section of cracked, patched over, deteriorating pavement in there, and this is the time of year that roads that are already damaged get even worse due to the freeze-thaw cycle.
Believe it or not, that winding street is maintained by the City of Denver. The city’s department of transportation and infrastructure said this section of road is now on the schedule this summer for a mill and overlay — a rehabilitative treatment for a street that is already in poor condition or approaching poor condition. The work will structurally improve the street as well as improve the driving surface.
When the city comes out to do the work, they will visit the area twice for two separate procedures. First, one crew will use a piece of equipment called a cold milling machine, also called a rotomiller, to remove the top three inches of asphalt. That will remove all of the damaged road, patching work and cracked asphalt that drivers are experiencing now.
Then, engineers will inspect the pavement to determine if it is in good enough condition to pave a new layer of roadway or if they need to make other improvements before resurfacing.
If the sub base checks out fine, then a paving crew will come out to lay down a fresh layer of asphalt and pack it down with steam rollers.
The city said they put the paving work on the scheduled to start between now and mid-July. Check for updates from the City of Denver paving schedule website. The city said to keep in mind that all work is weather permitting, and schedules are subject to change.
Denver7 traffic anchor Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook,Twitter or Instagram or listen to his Driving You Crazy podcast on iTunes , Stitcher , Google Play or Podbean.
