The Public Works Department is continually working on some aspect of street management or maintenance. Street management includes planning future streets, capital construction needs, and changes to existing streets. Street maintenance keeps the streets in good repair, maintains drainage ways, provides signage and traffic markings, snowplowing and sanding, provides street lighting, and provides street cleaning. Generally, Public Works has several street improvement projects each year.
CHIP-SEAL PROJECT: The City of Cortez applies a chip-seal treatment on a regular schedule as a significant street maintenance program. The process includes spraying a layer of emulsified asphalt (oil) on the road surface, covering with a layer of 3/8” gravel chips, and rolling the chips into the oil with a rubber-tired roller. This process takes approximately one day for each oiled section. Within a week, the excess gravel chips are swept up. The chip-seal process is a cost-effective measure to lengthen the life of the City streets without having to completely reconstruct them.