Agenda Date: 07/21/2026
Subject:
Title
Resolution 55-2026: Approving a Construction Contract with Chavez Construction for the 2026 Mill & Overlay Project, City Project No. 26-03
Body
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From: |
James L. Becklenberg, City Manager |
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Prepared by: |
Brent Soderlin, Director of Public Works & Utilities |
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Ray Hill, Interim City Engineer |
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Matthew Matuszewski, CIP Manager |
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Presentations: |
N/A |
PURPOSE:
Approving a Construction Contract with Chavez for the 2026 Mill & Overlay Project, City Project No. 26-03.
LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED:
Safe Community; High-Quality Governance
DISCUSSION:
On 05/26/2026, the City of Littleton advertised a Request for Proposals to procure contractor services for the 2026 Mill & Overlay Project, City Project No. 26-03. Nine proposals were received by the 06/24/2026 deadline. Staff reviewed the proposals based on qualifications, experience, project approach, and pricing. Staff selected Chavez proposal as reasonable and the most qualified to successfully complete the project. The project is discussed in the following section.
Approval of this resolution would authorize a contract with Chavez for construction of the 2026 Mill & Overlay Project, City Project No. 26-03. Construction is anticipated to begin in early August, with anticipated completion in late October.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Littleton has approximately 360 lane miles of streets within the community’s transportation network, comprised primarily of asphalt streets and several concrete streets. The City’s Pavement Management Plan, managed by the City’s Public Works Department, emphasizes pavement preservation as a proactive approach to maintaining streets while they are still in good condition. Maintenance and repair of the street surface can vary from surface sealing, to mill and overlay, to full reconstruction, depending on street surface and subsurface condition. The most cost-effective strategy in pavement preservation is applying the right treatment to streets at the right time, thereby maximizing the life of the pavement and reducing future increases to maintenance scope and costs. It is very important to protect the City’s major investment in the street system and maintain streets before they deteriorate beyond repair. Streets which have deteriorated significantly must be completely reconstructed and this is very costly.
The Engineering Division of Public Works uses condition ratings and specific preservation and rehabilitation practices to preserve the condition of Littleton’s roadways and extend the useful life of the pavement. Engineering staff assesses the condition of each roadway segment and assigns a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) rating ranging from 0 to 100 (Figure 1). A PCI of 100 corresponds to a new road, a PCI rating of 0 means the pavement has completely failed. The PCI rating drops over time as pavements deteriorate from use and environmental factors. The rate of degradation begins slowly and increases rapidly after a few years. As such, pavement preservation early in a street’s lifecycle is critical to preserve the pavement quality and reduce costly rehabilitation or reconstruction.
The Engineering Division manages the Pavement Management Program with the goal of keeping Littleton’s streets at a PCI of 75 or higher. Currently, the average PCI across the street network is 62. The pavement management strategy focuses on identifying the correct preservation treatment, and applying it at the right time, to extend the life of the pavement. This holistic program approach effectively preserves the pavement network through leveraging low-cost preservation techniques to limit future reconstructions and provides the most value from the funding available for pavement management.
Figure 1
Common pavement preservation treatments include:
Surface sealing streets in good condition protects the wearing surface and prevents degradation of the street structure over time. Pavements with seals that have aged, that no longer provide preservation, or streets that have not been adequately sealed and preserved require more intensive activities and repairs to bring the roadway back to a good condition.
Patching work repairs failed pavement along streets. The work is focused on street segments identified by Public Works, and typically is in advance of other pavement preservation treatments.
Milling is the removal of the top typically two inches of a roadway to remove asphalt that is no longer providing a smooth wearing surface. An Overlay replaces the spent layer removed, providing a new traveling surface. Localized areas of pavement failure may be encountered after milling. These areas will be patched prior to paving the surface.
Street reconstruction involves pulverizing the upper layers of the roadway into the subgrade, removing excess material, and recompacting the subgrade for the roadway. The street is then paved with specified thicknesses for the full street pavement section. Streets that do not have a viable base or have a fully degraded surface must be reconstructed. Preservation techniques must consider the pavement distresses present to be effective; for example a surface seal will not improve the condition of a roadway that has a failing base layer.
The 2026 Mill & Overlay project includes various local streets throughout the city. The attached map shows the treatments for 2026, color-coded by treatment type. The outer black line represents the city limits; purple lines indicate full roadway reconstruction; the red lines are designated for mill and overlay; green indicates slurry seal, and blue represents a chip seal. Over eleven lane miles of residential streets are slated for repair and a new top layer of asphalt this summer as part of the 2026 Mill & Overlay pavement preservation program.
During street preservation planning, several of the Public Works staff coordinate to identify opportunities to implement transportation improvements along streets planned for construction or maintenance activities such as mill and overlay, such as the implementation of Safer Streets Initiatives. This coordination provides several financial, staff, equipment and material resources efficiencies by implementing these improvements at the time of preservation activities instead of removal and replacement later. An example of this successful coordination is the implementation of new upgraded bicycle facilities (striping and vertical infrastructure, where applicable) when striping of the street commences after a street has been resurfaced or reconstructed. Two specific examples will be Windermere Street and Pennsylvania Street. Additionally, mill and overlay projects are coordinated with the annual concrete repair and replacement projects to ensure the concrete curb and gutter repairs are completed prior to mill and overlay activities.
Mill and overlay activities are completed during the day and may cause some traffic disruptions while the crew remove and replace the asphalt. The contractor’s scope includes installation and maintenance of traffic control during this work, and the closures will be signed accordingly. If the contractor proposes a full street closure, residents will be notified in advance.
Prior Actions or Discussions
Presentation to City Council regarding Capital Improvements (CIP) update: Supporting 2-3 Year Initiatives, on February 7, 2026.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
The proposed construction contract with Chavez for the 2026 Mill & Overlay Project is $2,419,338.52 This project will be funded by 3A Sales Tax Capital Improvement Fund - Pavement Management in the amount of $ 2,419,338.52.
Pursuant to the City’s Procurement Policy, all contracts exceeding $500,000 must be approved by City Council.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the construction contract.
ALTERNATIVES:
If the contract is not approved, services for full depth reclamation, milling, and hauling would need to be procured to support the city street crews in their street preservation activities. It is possible that not all streets identified for reconstruction or overlay would receive treatment in 2026. The street surface conditions will continue to deteriorate, and future repair costs would likely be greater due to inflation and increased construction costs.
PROPOSED MOTION:
Proposed Motion
I move to approve Resolution 55-2026 approving a Construction Contract with Chavez for the 2026 Mill & Overlay Project, City Project No. 26-03.