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CDOT
LIAISON,
HIGHWAY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT |
The PWD acts as a local
liaison between the citizens of the Estes Park and the Colorado Department of
Transportation. Since they only have engineering offices in Boulder and Greeley
it is often very important for the local PWD engineer to review the issues at
hand and relay them, often with suggestion, to CDOT. The Department of
Transportation is divided into several divisions that all work in different
capacities, such as: signals, signs, striping, design and maintenance. The PWD
works closely with all these divisions to achieve the desired results and
acquire what is best and most safe for our community.
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COMPLIANCE REVIEWS |
Listed below are some of the major disciplines that the Engineering Office
reviews for compliance.
- 1. Overlay - Streets that require repaving are resurfaced with
1.5" of hot asphalt. The repaving project is usually done in
September & October.
- 2. Slurry & Chip Seals - Surface rehabilitation of streets
that are structurally sound, but need improved skid resistance to extend
their life. May - June.
- 3. Crack Filling - This is usually done by in-house crews to
prevent the infiltration of water that accelerates erosion and potholes.
Spring and fall.
- 4. Parking - Construction of new and modification of existing
lots to provide the Town with the highest possible density of vehicles in
a safe and well flowing manner.
- 5. Signs - Placement of all street signs, including regulatory,
warnings and street names. The latter are manufactured in-house. All
others are placed in accordance with the MUTCD.
- 6. Drainage - The PWD maintains all roadside drainageways and
reviews all new construction of it for compliance.
- 7. Bridges - The Town maintains and reviews the engineering and
maintenance of six downtown bridges and seven local street bridges.
Structural integrity of all bridges is inspected every other year by a
specialized consultant and reports are generated. Several state highway
bridges are inspected and controlled by CDOT. There are also approximately
11 private bridges on the Fall River that also carry private
responsibility by the individual owners.
- 8. Grant Acquisition - The PWD has been extremely successful
during the last 10 years in acquiring state support for the construction
of the Lake Estes Pedestrian Trail System and the rehabilitation of three
downtown bridges. The TEP is proactive in its use of all available funding
to achieve a higher standard of living for the community and visitors.
- 9. Trails - The PWD has actively pursued the desires of the local
community to develop a trail network throughout the Estes Valley. The PWD
has sought out and fulfilled funds and project design and management for
the construction of all the trails in EP. During the spring of 2000, the
Town and the recreation District will finish the last 2,000-foot link of
the 3.5-mile loop around the lake. The final cost of the concrete trail is
more than 1.5 million dollars.
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CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT OF ALL CIVIL AND UTILITY PROJECTS |
The PWD
is the general overseer of all civil type construction projects as they relate
to public properties. While the PWD may not be the sole proprietor of they
projects they do play a vital role in observation and control for compliance to
codes. Projects that involve the installation or repair of utility mains or
services also fall under the watchful eye of the PWD Engineering division. See
the List of PWD projects in the last ten years.
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DEVELOPMENT REVIEW |
The PWD Engineering Division is a critical player in the
review of all commercial and residential construction within
the Town of Estes Park.
The following list contains some of the important aspects
that are reviewed during these processes.
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1. Roadway and transportation network
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2. Drainage
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3. Pedestrian trail connection
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4. Water system
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5. Grading
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6. Landscaping
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7. Density
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8. Parking
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9. Wetlands
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10. Floodplain compliance
All new developments must provide a new ductile iron water
line system and an asphalt roadway system as a minimum.
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DRAINAGE PLANNING AND
REVIEW |
All storm water ways are reviewed for
compliance with applicable laws. All new subdivisions must meet Standards and go
through Planning Department and Engineering Department review processes. All
drainage systems, culverts and detention basins must be designed with good
engineering practices.
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PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM |
The PWD now manages the street network of
Estes Park with a computer-based program called MicroPaver™. This windows-based
program is a powerful tool in managing our pavements. Roads must be managed, not
just maintained. A pavement management system (PMS) is defined as a set of tools
for performing condition surveys and condition prediction, and developing work
plans with the objective of optimizing spending. A PMS uses engineering
technology to determine when, where, and how to best maintain roadways. It
provides the needed leverage to preserve the infrastructure investment. MicroPaver™
assists the PWD Engineering Division to organize, plan and budget for pavement
maintenance. It offers prediction modeling and analysis for long term future
control of all aspects of pavement management.
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PUBLIC FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
(ALL GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS) |
The PWD
Engineering Division acts as property manager to all publicly owned buildings
(except for Light & Power). General government facilities that fall under
the associate assistance of the Facilities Manager include:
- 1. Municipal Building
- 2. Police Department
- 3. Fleet/Street Shop
- 4. Water Shop
- 5. Storage Building
- 6. Estes Park Area Historical Museum
- 7. Senior Center
- 8. Restrooms, 5 units
- 9. Employee housing, 8 units
- 10. Parks Department Shop
- 11. Chamber of Commerce
While the PWD does not employ personnel to physically maintain all the
aspects of these buildings, the Facilities Manager maintains all the contractual
documents for services and administers specific contracts for annual maintenance
contracts to several operating systems. The Facilities Manager solely oversees
the smooth operation of 36 commercial overhead doors, 116 restroom fixtures, 10
air-conditioning systems, 24 water heaters and a complex variety of 120, 208,
240, 277 and 480 power systems throughout these buildings. Other systems
operated and managed by this office are:
- 1. Municipal phone & voice mail system
- 2. Downtown trash collection
- 3. Elevator
- 4. Public restroom cleaning
- 5. Carpet cleaning
- 6. Recycle container collection
- 7. Fire extinguishers
- 8. Public pay phones
- 9. Building security
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RIGHT-OF-WAY WORK
PERMITTING |
A right-of-way is that piece of property that lies between
private lots, within which all roadways and utility mains
are constructed. Any work (excavation, construction,
culverts, driveways, overhead lines, etc.) within the ROW
requires a permit. This permit is issued by the jurisdiction
within which the work is taking place. IE: County or Town.
ROW permit applications must be submitted no less than 3
days prior to and no more than 30 days prior to excavation.
In Estes Park permits cost a $50 flat fee, plus $200 for
excavation within the asphalt roadway and additional fees
for length of work. (See Details in the General
Specifications -
ROW guidelines.PDF) All work within the ROW requires a
call to the Utilities Notification Center of Colorado at
800-922-1987 to verify utility locations. This is a free
service.
Permit application form.
Complete ROW Guidelines may be reviewed by opening the link
above.
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ROADWAY MANAGEMENT |
The PWD oversees many facets of construction & maintenance to the
roadway systems in Estes Park. The Town of Estes Park's PWD references several guides as
adopted by the Town Trustees. They are:
- MUTCD - Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices
- CRS - Colorado Revised Statues
- 1999 Colorado Highway Specifications and M Standards
(CDOT)
- "Right-of-Way Permit Application and
Construction
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TRAFFIC
VOLUME COUNTS AND ENGINEERING |
The Public Works Department (PWD) maintains a database of
annual traffic volume per street. Not all streets are
counted every year. Most main arterials are counted each
summer. State Highways 34 & 36 are counted electronically on
a daily basis. The PWD receives a computer printout monthly
from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
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