Who's responsible for quality control of the previous rail crossing work on 96th Ave in Commerce City?

COMMERCE CITY, Colo — Patrick from Thornton writes, “What's driving you crazy? Last year 96th Ave in Commerce City was closed down at the Union Pacific Railroad crossing for much needed repairs as it was car-damaging rough. The next day I was excited to drive over the newly repaired crossing. However, it was just as rough and car-damaging as it was before. Who is responsible for quality control of the work that is done at taxpayer expense on roads in Commerce City?”

When I went out there many months after those repairs, it was easy to see how rough the pavement still is on 96^th on either side of the repaired tracks. There are two parts of this puzzle, the tracks and immediate area and the roadway leading up to the tracks. The track repair you mentioned Patrick was conducted by Union Pacific Railroad in November 2025, but there was not any road repair leading up to the tracks done at that time. All road repair outside of that immediate area of the tracks would need to be done by Commerce City.

One of the problems here is the extreme amount of large truck traffic and it is made more complicated because of so many fuel tankers rolling through here. The fuel tanker drivers are required to come to a complete stop and look for trains before continuing on and crossing the tracks. That stopping action contributes to asphalt structural fatigue and distortion. When heavy trucks brake hard, especially during hot weather we had this past summer, the forward momentum pushes and shoves the asphalt creating ripples or waves.

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I asked the Commerce City public works department when they might get out and smooth out this part of 96^th. I was told they have been out over the past several months to “make temporary pavement repairs to improve ride quality and maintain safe travel conditions.” However, these repairs are not permanent. I was told that the underlying issue is tied to the railroad crossing structure itself, which is owned and maintained by Union Pacific. Lasting improvements require reconstruction of the crossing and coordination between our two agencies.

I was told those conversations were ongoing for several weeks and they finally agreed to make these permanent repairs to the roadway and crossing structure starting Monday, Sep 21 and likely continuing through Sep 24. “This partnership will help provide a smoother crossing, improve safety for motorists, reduce long-term maintenance costs, and minimize future disruptions to the traveling public.”

Commerce City told me that scheduling was totally up to Union Pacific and they provided Commerce City specific dates only a few days before those repairs will take place. Since UP owns and maintain their infrastructure, it's up to them when they want to do rail crossing work and while UP does communicate with municipalities on work like this, they often don’t give more than a week or a couple of days of advance notice when they are ready to start work. 

Commerce City told me after their part of the work is done, they expect their investment and their repair work will deliver lasting value for anyone who drives along 96^th Ave, especially for all of the commercial vehicle drivers that use the corridor every day. Commerce City doesn’t expect the repair work to take more than just one work week and suggest drivers use E. 88th Avenue or E. 104th Avenue to get around the closure until the work is complete.

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