Street Maintenance Program

The Street Maintenance Program has a goal of maintaining the street network that provides a strong level of service and that is sustainable. View a map of the 2022 Street Maintenance Program (PDF). 

2022 Street Maintenance Overview

Investment in street infrastructure for the City of Grand Junction is one of the City Council’s strategic priorities and has resulted in improvements to approximately 65% of the street network across the city over the past six years. During that time, more than $33 million has been invested to improve the condition of city street infrastructure. 

The overall goal of the Grand Junction Street Maintenance Program is to maintain the street network throughout the city in a sustainable and cost-effective manner. Continued investment in frequent, less expensive maintenance of the roadways reduces the likelihood of significant pavement deterioration and expensive reconstruction costs. 

In order to determine the condition of the streets, a measurement tool known as the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is used. The higher the overall PCI, the less expensive the network is to maintain. For example, a newly constructed road would receive a PCI of 100.

In 2004, the city’s street network had a PCI of 77. Due to high inflation in construction costs during the mid-2000s and then funding limitations due to the recession, by 2016 the city’s PCI for streets had deteriorated to 69. Rather than allow for further degradation and the need for more expensive repairs, the city developed a strategy to increase the PCI to a more sustainable 73 where less expensive maintenance alternatives would be effective. With voter authorization in 2017, the city embarked on a six-year plan to increase the PCI.

To verify the achievement of that accomplishment, a complete PCI survey on the street network is scheduled to be completed once the 2022 street maintenance projects are finished. 

The measure using PCI is only for city streets. Streets within the community are maintained by different entities. The ownership and maintenance responsibilities of a street can usually be identified by the color of the street sign. Blue street signs are commonly located on city streets and green signs are located on roads maintained by Mesa County. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) also has responsibility for many of the major corridors such as I-70B, North Ave (US Hwy 6), US Hwy 50 on Orchard Mesa, and Broadway (State Hwy 340) in the Redlands.

2022 street maintenance efforts in the city of Grand Junction have focused on Chip Seal, HA-5, Street Overlays, and Reconstruction treatments. 

Chip Seal 

The Chip Seal program involves installing a layer of 3/8” of fine rock surface (“chips”) and then a few weeks later covering that in a fog seal. The “chips” help provide a new wearing surface but more importantly, this method seals the surface to help prevent moisture from compromising the integrity of the street. This program is performed almost entirely by city employees covering more than 78 miles of road. The area that was “chipped” in 2022 was primarily on the Redlands south of State Hwy 340. The Sanford, Colex, and Scarlet industrial area was also chipped. This year’s program started in June and is complete. 

HA-5

HA-5 is a high-density Mineral Bond product that is a thick, flexible seal material that the city has been piloting for four years. The product has proven to be successful in reducing the deterioration of the asphalt and is used in neighborhoods as an alternative to Chip Seal. This has reduced the overall costs of street maintenance for the City. This product was applied on selected roads throughout the city by Andale Construction and the work was completed in early August. 

Street Overlays 

These improvements include installing a two-inch layer of new asphalt which restores the structural capacity to the road. United Companies was awarded the $1,988,583 project that will overlay four roads for a total of seven “lane” miles of new asphalt. Major streets to be overlaid include 21 ½ Road from Hwy 6 and 50 to 848 21 ½ Road, 25 ½ Road from Independent Avenue to Patterson Road, Redlands Parkway from the Broadway Roundabout to the Colorado River Bridge, and Fernwood Court in the Knolls subdivision. Work began in early September and was completed in mid-November. 

Reconstruction 

A section of South Rim Avenue and Kansas Avenue, along with the adjacent cul-de-sacs, was scheduled to be included in the street overlay program but the existing pavement sections had deteriorated to a point that required a partial reconstruction. This was contracted out as a separate project. The project was awarded to Mountain Valley Construction for $613,049 and included the removal and replacement of the entire asphalt section on these roads. Construction on this project started in June of this year and is complete. 

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Residents and commuters can receive traffic and construction updates by subscribing to the News Flash for City of Grand Junction News on the City website, by following city social media, and/or by checking the local newspaper. In addition, motorists and community members can report concerns online using the Report a Concern tool.