Pavement Management Program

Cracks in the pavement are sealed to prevent moisture from entering the base and sub-base of a roadway, reducing pavement failures and potholes and extending the pavement life.

Asphalt rejuvenation is used on streets to restore the original pavement properties that degrade over time by oxidation and weathering. The rejuvenation process happens in three steps:

1. An oil-based emulsion is sprayed onto the street.
2. A layer of washed sand is applied on top of the emulsion to minimize tracking of the emulsion onto nearby surfaces during the curing process.
3. The street is sweeped to remove the sand.

The city has contracted with Pavement Restoration to conduct asphalt rejuvenation within the city.

In response to questions from the community regarding the asphalt rejuvenation program, staff will be providing more advanced notice and additional signage before future treatments begin.

Asphalt Rejuvenation FAQs

The roadway is milled and then resurfaced with two inches or more of new asphalt.

Asphalt resurfacing or overlays are used on higher-volume roads or lower-volume streets that have deteriorated to a point that a chip seal or other pavement preservation treatments are no longer effective. An overlay typically requires some level of removing the existing surface by grinding, either along the edge or the full width of the street, depending on the condition of the street.

The overlay process generally occurs in several phases:

1. Removal and replacement of deteriorated curbs and gutters, as well as reconstruction of selected sidewalk ramps to conform to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) criteria.
2. Milling of the roadway surface.
3. Actual resurfacing of the road with new asphalt, combined with re-striping.

The overlay process at times may include a phase to remove and patch some areas of the street that have extensive wear or damage beyond the surface of the pavement. The existing asphalt pavement and subgrade are removed from the roadway and then reconstructed with six to eight inches of new asphalt pavement.

At times, streets deteriorate to a point that requires total reconstruction of the pavement structure. Streets requiring reconstruction will typically require similar steps as an overlay, with pedestrian ramp and curb and gutter repair, but the entire pavement structure is removed, the subgrade is reconditioned and new asphalt and striping is completed.

Chip seal is a surface application used to prolong the life of an existing street by applying a liquid asphalt membrane binder (“seal”) and a layer of small crushed stone (“chip”) over the existing street surface. Chip seal typically extends the useful life of the existing pavement by eight to 12 years and is typically used on residential or lower-volume streets.

Streets that receive a chip seal typically require asphalt, curb and gutter repair in preparation for the actual chip seal application. The chip seal process does not significantly affect traffic but does require that parking be removed from the street while the work is being completed. The chip seal process typically takes two to three days. Typically, one to two days later, a thin layer of liquid asphalt “fog coat” is applied on top of the stone chips to provide further sealing of the pavement. The final step is sweeping the streets to remove any remaining chips that have come loose during the process.

The existing pavement and sub-grade are removed and the roadway is reconstructed with six to eight inches of new asphalt.

Lehigh Street

• Pedestrian crossing and intersection safety improvements near Mesa Elementary
• Installation of a paved multi-use path through Bear Creek Park connecting Lehigh and Bear Creek Elementary
• Resurfacing of Lehigh/Greenbriar between Table Mesa and east of Galena/Redstone
• Removal of the center turn lane between Table Mesa Drive and Cragmoor Road to add a buffer and provide more separation between bike lanes and vehicle travel lanes

Learn more about the Lehigh Corridor Project.

17th Street

• Resurfacing of 17th Street from Pearl Street to Macky Drive

• Two-stage left-turn queue boxes for making left turns onto Walnut Street from 17th Street, including “no right turn on red” signs for drivers

• Green pavement markings to increase the visibility of bike paths on Canyon Boulevard and Arapahoe Avenue

• A new bike lane segment southbound from Pearl Street to Walnut Street

• Newly restriped bike lanes and crosswalks between Pearl Street and Macky Drive

Folsom Street (Valmont Avenue to Pine Street)

In December 2021, the city finished installation of:

• A cast-in-place curb-separated bike lane treatment with plastic delineators for enhanced visibility of the curb separation for bicyclists and motorists.
• Additional green conflict markings
• Enhanced signing
• Resurfacing and striping upgrades (completed over the summer)

This location was identified for a vertically separated bike facility due to its 30 mph speed limit and higher average daily traffic.

Baseline Road (Gregory Canyon to Broadway)

• Installed a buffered bike lane at the eastbound approach of the intersection at Baseline and Broadway
• Resurfacing on Baseline was completed in early October.

The buffered bike lane will help eastbound bicyclists position themselves in a dedicated area at the front of the intersection, increasing their visibility.

All three streets were identified for multimodal safety improvements in Boulder’s Low-Stress Walk and Bike Network Plan, which charts a course for enhancing existing facilities and filling in missing links in Boulder’s bicycle and pedestrian transportation network.

Pine Street (Folsom Street to 28th Street)

A new buffered bike lane was installed between Folsom and 28th streets. Along with the new bike lane, the speed limit on this stretch of Pine Street was lowered from 30 mph to 25 mph.

Table Mesa Drive (Vassar Drive to Broadway)

A number of bicycle safety improvements were made across the Table Mesa corridor, in addition to the pavement resurfacing work. These included adding and widening bike lanes and installing a painted "bike box" at Broadway to assist with safe turning movements.

Folsom Street (Iris Avenue to Valmont Road)​

The city installed green bike lane striping at intersections to improve visibility added a buffer between the existing drive lanes and bike lanes and reduced the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph.