Those of us who live in Durango West and beyond are not happy (Bayfieldians, too). During the month of August we had to endure the chip sealing road project on U.S. Highway 160 west.
Who thought this was a good idea? We had to plan for anywhere from 30 minutes to a full hour of delays just to get in from 7 miles out of town. That annoyance was the least of our worries as most of us were attacked by kicked up flying stones, some of which cracked windshields and blew out both side and back windows. Is chip sealing a road really the right choice? Yes, it is less expensive than asphalt, but less expensive for whom? Certainly not for us, as some of the windshields on newer cars, with their cameras and other gadgets, now cost nearly $2,000 to replace. Asphalt is more durable, longer lasting, a smoother ride, and I’m quite sure it does not result in nearly as many broken windshields. Chip seal is also noisier at any speed. Noise pollution! You cyclists have to deal with it sans windshield.
In general, chip seal is better for low traffic areas and asphalt better for high traffic. So, chip sealing Highway 160 might have been a reasonable choice when I arrived in Durango in 1988, but 160 has substantially more traffic now.
I was so anxious about driving into town that I only drove the older car, which already has a cracked windshield. The one time I had to take my newer vehicle in I drove up through Hesperus and down Wildcat Canyon Road. The only time I recall having more anxiety driving into town was when I hit a mountain lion. More accurately, the mountain lion hit my car trying to run across the road from behind the end of a guardrail. A bent strut and $8,000 damage later my car was as good as, well not new, but as it was before. That was a big kitty. I backed up to see if it was OK (staying in the car – nice kitty) but could not find it. It had to be injured but must have run off. I called Colorado Parks and Wildlife to report it, but they never found anything.
You may not know that I have and will continue to be somewhat of a road repair champion in Durango. It was I who wrote in to John Peel’s Action Line about the persistently potholed drive through mailbox road at the post office. Peel is indeed a man of action. With much research we determined that the post office was responsible for its repair and together we annoyed it into fixing it. You’re welcome.
So, my question for the day, my fellow Coloradans, is an important one to ponder: How many windshield cracks do you accumulate before you replace the windshield? No doubt if you replace it with only one crack you will immediately acquire one on the new windshield. It is in the same category of Laws of the Universe as the assurance of rain when you wash your car. FYI: I wait until three cracks in the windshield before replacing it, at least on the older car. I currently have one big crack and one new ding that will likely spread. I can survive another chip seal project. Lucky me. Nah. If not the chip seal, the hail will get it.
As my former neighbors in Da Bronx would say: “I got ya chip seal right here.”
Jim Cross is a retired Fort Lewis College professor and basketball coach.
