Ruth from Arvada writes, “What's driving you crazy? The right lane of 64th Avenue as you pass Ward Road going west is one big pot hole, patchy mess, with uneven paving — no paving actually. The left lane is very smooth. All of the big trucks, landscapers, with their trailers, garbage trucks, etc. bounce along going through this mess making a lot of loud noise. There are many people sleeping in homes and an apartment building near 64th Avenue that are woken early in the mornings by all of this loud racket, and they have to put up with it all day. I don’t understand why this section of the road cannot be paved and smoothed out.”
I went to take a look for myself and yes, that right lane Ruth is pretty rough, and it was noisy when the trucks rolled past. As for getting it smoothed out, that is a bit more complicated because sometimes a road isn’t just a road, it is also a highway. In this case that section of 64th Avenue from Ward Road to Indiana Street doubles as State Highway 72 so the City of Arvada and CDOT have a cooperative and collaborative relationship when it comes to maintenance. Arvada shares road condition information with CDOT and cooperates with some maintenance issues.
Rachael Kuroiwa, manager of communications for infrastructure for the City of Arvada, said she thinks the difference in condition between the left lane and the right lane is likely due to earlier utility projects in the roadway.
“I recall a significant Xcel Energy project in the past couple of years in the left lane of W. 64th Avenue," she said. "After they complete their work, they would repave or patch where they opened up the road. This would lead to some differences in road surface.”
Kuroiwa told me it is the city's understanding that improvements to Ward Road and W. 64th Avenue from Ward west to Indiana Street are on CDOT's plan for an upcoming maintenance season.
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“Yes, 64th Avenue will be repaved from Ward Road to Indiana Street sometime in 2023,” said CDOT Region 1 Deputy Communications Manager Presley Fowler. “This is part of a larger resurfacing project that will include repaving of Ward Road from I-70 to 64th. The goal is for this project to start in summer of 2023.”
Until the road is resurfaced, Kuroiwa said when we see some significant, plowable snow, 64th Avenue will be monitored for potholes that could develop over the winter and potholes will be managed in collaboration between the City of Arvada and CDOT.
State Highway 72 is an original 1920s state highway that runs from northwest metro Denver area to the foothills. The metro area starting point is at 44th Avenue and Ward Road in Wheat Ridge. It continues north through Arvada then west from Indiana Ave at 86th Avenue past State Highway 93 up Coal Creek Canyon. After doubling up with State Highway 119 near Nederland, Highway 72 continues north as the Peak-to-Peak Highway ending at the junction of State Highway 7 west of Lyons.
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