Why US 85 Is Hard on Windshields

If you drive in Weld County you drive US 85, because there is rarely a sensible alternative. It runs north to south through the middle of the county, linking Fort Lupton, Platteville, Gilcrest, La Salle, Evans and Greeley, then carrying on through Ault and Nunn towards Cheyenne.

It is also the road that sends us the most work. Not because of one dramatic hazard, but because of four ordinary ones stacked on top of each other.

It is a freight corridor, not a commuter road

US 85 exists to move goods. Gravel and aggregate out of the pits along the South Platte, oilfield equipment and sand to well sites, agricultural loads to feedlots and processors, and general freight running between Denver and Cheyenne.

That means the vehicle mix is different from what you meet on a city street. A high proportion of what is around you is heavy, loaded, running on tyres with deep tread, and often carrying loose material. Gravel and sand haulers are the specific problem. Even a well sheeted load leaves material on the deck, the frame and the tyres, and that comes off at highway speed.

The speeds are high and the separation is low

Much of US 85 runs at 65 mph through open country with one lane each way and no median. You meet oncoming trucks with a few feet of lateral separation at a combined closing speed well over 120 mph.

A stone that comes off an oncoming truck at that closing speed carries far more energy than one thrown up by the vehicle ahead of you. This is why damage picked up on US 85 tends to be worse than damage picked up around town. It is not more frequent. It is harder when it lands.

It is permanently under construction

CDOT has been rebuilding intersections along this corridor for years, converting at-grade junctions and improving the worst crash locations. The work is needed. It also means that at any given time some stretch of US 85 has temporary surfaces, exposed aggregate, milled pavement, loose chip seal, or concrete barrier narrowing the lanes.

Work zones concentrate every risk factor at once. Traffic is closer together, the surface is rougher, there is more loose material available, and the barrier removes the escape space you would otherwise have.

The shoulders shed material back onto the road

On the rural sections the shoulders are gravel. Every vehicle that drifts onto one, every truck that pulls off and rejoins, and every piece of farm equipment that moves along the edge drags material back onto the pavement.

Wind does the rest, and Weld County is not short of wind. On a gusty day the outside portion of the lane collects a film of grit that would not be there in still conditions.

How to drive it with less damage

• Following distance first. Four seconds minimum behind a car, six or more behind anything loaded. This is the single biggest factor and it costs you almost nothing in journey time.
• Never sit directly behind a gravel or sand hauler. Either drop well back or complete the pass. The worst position is a hundred feet behind one at 65 mph.
• Ease off when meeting oncoming trucks, particularly on the single carriageway sections. You control half of the closing speed.
• Stay off the outside edge of the lane where grit collects, especially on windy days.
• Slow through work zones beyond the posted limit if the surface looks loose. Milled pavement and fresh chip seal throw stones badly.
• Do not tailgate through a work zone. The barrier means you have nowhere to move sideways if something comes off the vehicle in front.

Check the glass after a long US 85 run

Chips picked up at highway speed often do not announce themselves. You hear a crack, look at the glass, see nothing, and forget about it. Later that week there is a star break in the passenger side that you have no memory of.

Look at the windshield in daylight from outside, at a low angle, with the glass clean. Angle matters because a fresh chip catches light in a way it does not when you are looking straight through it from the driver seat.

If you find one, get it filled before the weather turns. That deadline is real and the reasoning behind it is in why Colorado temperature swings turn chips into cracks. A chip repair takes half an hour and most Colorado insurers waive the deductible on repair.

If it is already run

Highway chips crack faster than town chips, because the panel sees more flex at speed and more wind load. A crack that reaches the edge of the glass, or sits in your line of sight, means replacement rather than repair, and on newer vehicles that brings camera recalibration with it.

We work along the whole corridor as a mobile service, from Fort Lupton and Platteville up through La Salle, Evans, Greeley and Ault. Text a photo to (970) 608-4888 and we will tell you which it is before we set out.

More guides

• The Greeley to Denver commute and why I-25 chips windshields. Construction zones at 75 mph, twice a day.
• Oilfield traffic and what it does to glass. Lease roads, sand haulers and fleet glass as a running cost.
• Harvest season and why gravel damage spikes in September. Beet and silage trucks on loose county roads.

Damage picked up on US 85 gets dealt with in Greeley. Start at windshield replacement in Greeley, CO.