The Roads Ahead
![Contributed Photo/Erin VanderbergTemperate January days allowed road crews to do some patching along 26th Avenue. DPW's pavement plan indicates more to come after Xcel completes the Park Hill component of the Accelerated Gas Main Replacement Program.](https://greaterparkhill.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/park-hill-streets-elm-fix-1-24.jpg?w=300)
Xcel Energy’s Pipeline Project, Department of Public Works Paving Plan and what it means for Park Hill.
By Erin Vanderberg, Editor
The replacement of Park Hill’s aging pipeline infrastructure created road construction detours into the early winter and an aftermath of rough patched roads. Here, Xcel Energy and the Department of Public Works discuss the pipeline replacement project, the annual paving schedule and how the Park Hill neighborhood can inform and be informed on issues related to street maintenance.
Last summer, neighborhood outcry over Xcel Energy digging up freshly repaved streets in southwestern Park Hill to replace aging pipeline infrastructure prompted an official apology from the company’s Accelerated Gas Main Replacement Program (AMRP) representative Kirk Scheitler. His letter explained that Xcel Energy had not originally scheduled the Park Hill segment of its AMRP project for 2012, but later prioritized the neighborhood at a point in time too late to coordinate with the Department of Public Works.
“The change resulted in the disruption and inconvenience that we wanted to avoid, and we sincerely apologize for this unique situation,” wrote Scheitler. “But we also want to assure you that we have committed and will bear the cost to repave Albion from 16th Avenue to Montview Boulevard, and East 22nd Avenue from Cherry to Ivy streets. All other streets affected by this project will be returned to their pre-construction condition when we’ve finished our work.”
As the mild winter progressed, Xcel’s AMRP project continued its work in Park Hill well into December before temperatures dropped too low for the work to continue. The temporary street patches are now sinking, leaving noticeable bumps along some of Park Hill’s main thoroughfares, like 26th Avenue.
According to Xcel Energy spokesperson Mark Stutz, the rough patches on the roads are temporary, left behind when work was done right before temperatures dropped too low to properly do permanent street repairs.
“These will be addressed with the return to warmer weather later this year,” said Stutz.
According to the Department of Public Work’s assessment, there are additional utilities working in the Park Hill streets and the rough spots will be addressed when all utility companies are done with their work later this year and when the weather is more consistent.
“In many instances when work is done over an extended period of time or during winter months, patching is temporary to allow for the road to be reopened to traffic (cold patching), but these patches sometimes degrade rapidly and are a nuisance until final permanent patching is done at the end of a project,” said DPW Manager Jose Cornejo.
“When it comes to our paving operations, we want to be the ‘last in.’”
The Scope of Xcel’s Pipeline Replacement Project
Now in its fourth year, Xcel Energy’s Accelerated Gas Main Replacement Program (AMRP) is working to replace some 100 miles of underground pipeline in the Denver metro area – 750 miles statewide. The aging pipeline infrastructure consists of cast iron and uncoated steel pipes, laid as far back as 1928. Polyethylene (PE) pipes are the replacement, which have an estimated lifespan of at least a century. While the pipeline work will conclude in Park Hill this year, the project will continue throughout the metro area for another ten years or more.
In Park Hill, AMRP work was primarily completed by Q3, a contractor based in Minnesota, with branch offices in Denver, Milwaukee and Des Moines. Xcel Energy spokesperson Stutz said that contract crews with expertise in the energy industry have been doing work for Xcel Energy for decades, primarily when it comes to new construction or replacement efforts. Xcel uses their journeymen and crews to work on maintaining the system and handling emergencies.
The AMRP project is paid for by all customers of Xcel Energy through their monthly bills. On each customer’s bill is a cost adjustment, or “rider,” called the Pipeline System Integrity Adjustment (PSIA). The price, which came to just a fraction over 2 cents per therm of use per month, or about $1.28 for a typical residential natural gas customer of Xcel Energy per month, is set by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
“We believe that is money well invested,” said spokesman Stutz.
Public Works’ Paving Plans
The DPW maintains two paving schedules, posted online at denvergov.org/streetsandsidewalks. The annual paving plan is updated at the beginning of paving season – usually in April. The biweekly paving schedule denotes more specific dates that paving will take place, and allows paving crews the flexibility to change the schedule based on weather or emergency utility work.
According to Department of Public Works Manager Cornejo, a Park Hill resident who is featured in this month’s City Matters column, DPW has a very specific methodology to creating the paving schedule:
“Determining which streets to pave and when to pave them involves more planning than simply determining which are the worst streets and scheduling paving operations,” Cornejo said. “All streets must be periodically inspected for condition, long-range programs developed and those programs coordinated with other agencies that perform work on or under city streets.”
DPW Street Maintenance staff meets face-to-face once a month with utilities staff to discuss upcoming projects, and has ongoing conversations with their counterparts all month. DPW puts a three-year moratorium on newly-paved streets. The moratorium requires utility companies to use a higher level of patching that lessens the impact to the life of the overall pavement.
“The philosophy used by Street Maintenance staff is one of optimized use of available funds to extend the life of pavements while keeping all costs and public disruption to a minimum,” said Cornejo.
Report any street or sidewalk maintenance issue to 311. Issues specific to Xcel Energy’s Accelerated Gas Main Replacement Project can be directed to infocolorado@xcelenergy.com or to the project’s lead contractor, Q3, at 303-996-3544.