Miles of Road

Date updated: 11/18/2011

To meet reporting requirements of the Highway User Tax Fund (HUTF), Colorado cities and counties must submit information annually about all streets and roads that are open, used, and maintained. These roadway statistics are compiled annually by the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Larimer County Public Works is responsible for the County's $400 million asset, its roads, and has developed a report card to measure their status in key areas. The report card tries to address the top three citizen questions:

• How safe is the road system?
• Is the road system being adequately maintained?
• How might roads change in the future?

A current grade for the network of roads is accessible at Transportation Report Card.

What this chart shows: Miles of County Road within Larimer County (excludes City/Town mileage), 2010

Data Source: Colorado Department of Transportation - Roadway Statistics

See data table

What the above data tell us:

The roads maintained by Larimer County are 55% non-paved, gravel surface and 45% paved, concrete or asphalt surface. The decision to upgrade a gravel surface road is not a simple one. Many factors are involved in this process which includes annual maintenance, public safety, volume of vehicles and the increasing cost of asphalt and concrete products. The factors that impact cost of converting a gravel road to asphalt are total width including shoulders, thickness of asphalt, usually 4 inches minimum up to 7 inches depending on traffic volume and weight, and associated rework, such as culverts, base replacement, and alignment changes.

According to Larimer County Road and Bridge, the major economic factor escalating costs is diesel fuel prices associated with the equipment necessary to do the work. The asphalt industry estimator examples under Additional Information depict the cost per mile in 2011 dollars for several example roads.

According to Appendix D [pdf] of the Kentucky Transportation study 'When to Pave a Gravel Road', paving is a matter of tradeoffs. Paving gravel roads eliminates dust, is usually smoother, and accommodates vehicles such as tractors and trailers that do not operate well on gravel roads. However, the study states that in spite of the benefits of paving, a well-maintained gravel road can still accommodate traffic and may be cheaper and easier to maintain and can service the public for many years.

What this chart shows: Total Lane Miles in Larger Larimer County Municipalities, 2001-2010

Data Source: Colorado Department of Transportation - Roadway Statistics, 2001-2010

See data table

What this chart shows: Total Lane Miles in Smaller Larimer County Municipalities, 2001-2010

Data Source: Colorado Department of Transportation - Roadway Statistics, 2001-2010

See data table

What the above data tell us:

Of Larimer County's municipalities, Fort Collins contained the most lane miles during the last ten years, whereas Estes Park had the lowest percentage increase in lane miles (9.3%). The smaller municipalities had the largest percentage gains during these ten years, with Timnath roads increasing 1,652.7% or 60.2 miles, and Wellington roads increasing 110.1% or 41.0 miles.

NOTE: Highways can be measured in centerline miles or in lane miles. A centerline mile measures the length of a highway and does not take the number of lanes into account. A lane mile is specific measure of highway length: one lane mile is one mile of highway that is one lane wide; a two lane highway of one centerline mile in length would have two lane miles.

What this chart shows: Miles of Road versus Vehicle Registration - Fort Collins & Loveland 2001-2010

Data Source:

• Colorado Department of Transportation - Roadway Statistics
• Larimer County Clerk's Office - Vehicle Registration

See data table

What the above data tell us:

Between 2001 and 2010, the number of road miles (centerline) and the number of vehicles registered in Fort Collins and Loveland have steadily increased. In Fort Collins the number of registered vehicles increased 19.7% whereas the miles of road increased 23.5%. In Loveland, the number of registered vehicles increased by 34.1%, versus a 25.0% increase in the number of miles of road.

Additional Information:

The following graph depicts the cost differential in delaying road repairs. For example, if a road is allowed to deteriorate to poor condition, it will cost 4-5 times more to bring it back to acceptable conditions.

01

The following graph depicts the cost differential in delaying road repairs. For example, if a road is allowed to deteriorate to poor condition, it will cost 4-5 times more to bring it back to acceptable conditions.

The examples below depict the cost per mile in 2010 dollars for several example roads. Estimates were provided by the Larimer County Road & Bridge Department.

One Mile of Road with 'X' Width	Tons of material per mile	2010 estimated price per ton	Cost for paving one mile	Other Incidental Costs (Patching, Milling, etc.)	Total estimated cost per mile
Maintenance overlay of 24' wide road with two 2' wide paved shoulders (4' thick)	3,650	$50	$182,500	$55,000	$237,500
Maintenance overlay of 24' wide road with two 8' wide paved shoulders (4' thick)	5,215	$50	$260,750	$80,000	$340,750
One Mile of Road with 'X' Width	Tons of material per mile	2010 estimated price per ton	Cost for paving one mile	Other Major Expenses (Cut/Fill, Drainage, etc.)	Total estimated cost per mile
Rural road construction/ reconstruction (5' thick) including horizontal and vertical realignment	6,519	$50.00	$325,950	$350,000	$675,950
Urban road construction/ reconstruction (7' thick) including horizontal and vertical realignment, curb, gutter, and sidewalk	9,126	$50.00	$456,300	$825,000	$1,281,300

Back to text

Related Information on COMPASS -

• Housing Section
• Population Size & Growth
• Public Transportation
• Vehicle Registration
• Vehicles Available Per Household
• Work Commute

Other Resources -

• Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association
• Colorado Department of Transportation
• Larimer County Clerk's Office - Motor Vehicle Department
• Larimer County Road and Bridge Department
• National Asphalt Pavement Association | History of Asphalt

Standards or Targets: N/A

Data Tables:

Miles of County Road within Larimer County

Year	Paved Miles	Non-paved Miles	Total Miles	% Paved Miles	% Non-paved Miles
2001	478	594	1,072	45%	55%
2002	478	588	1,066	45%	55%
2003	480	582	1,062	45%	55%
2004	480	583	1,063	45%	55%
2005	480	583	1,063	45%	55%
2006	473	577	1,050	45%	55%
2007	470	575	1,045	45%	55%
2008	467	573	1,040	45%	55%
2009	455	472	1,027	44%	56%
2010	486	590	1,076	45%	55%

See chart

Total Lane Miles in Larimer County by Municipality

	Berthoud	Estes Park	Fort Collins	Loveland	Timnath	Wellington
2001	56.5	99.9	937.7	554.0	3.6	37.3
2002	58.0	105.0	997.0	576.0	3.6	39.0
2003	61.8	105.7	1,017.0	606.3	3.6	54.7
2004	61.8	105.7	1,029.7	625.6	18.0	61.4
2005	66.6	107.2	1,057.4	645.7	32.9	64.8
2006	69.1	108.4	1,071.8	655.2	38.6	77.8
2007	88.3	108.5	1,087.9	680.6	55.0	77.8
2008	88.3	108.0	1,096.2	700.4	63.8	77.9
2009	88.3	109.2	1,170.8	701.7	63.4	77.9
2010	89.3	109.2	1,171.4	702.4	63.8	78.3

See chart - Total Lane Miles in Larger Larimer County Municipalities

Total Lane Miles in Smaller Larimer County Municipalities

Miles of Road (Centerline) versus Vehicles Registered

	Fort Collins		Loveland
	Centerline Miles of Road	Vehicles Registered	Centerline Miles of Road	Vehicles Registered
2001	436.8	95,737	262.7	52,837
2002	463.0	97,989	273.0	54,959
2003	471.5	97,362	289.4	56,008
2004	475.7	99,825	298.0	58,064
2005	485.4	101,118	305.6	60,574
2006	492.2	99,544	310.3	60,464
2007	500.3	110,592	321.3	68,208
2008	502.4	111,744	327.4	69,248
2009	539.2	112,781	328.0	70,711
2010	539.6	114,629	328.4	70,845

See chart

© 2004-2011 Larimer County | Site Map