Asphalt Sealcoating for Manitou Springs Driveways
Small and old by local standards, Manitou Springs had 4,858 residents at the 2020 census and covers about 3.1 square miles at the foot of Ute Pass, at 6,306 feet. It was founded in 1872 and incorporated in 1888, and 2020-2024 American Community Survey estimates compiled by BestNeighborhood put the average home's construction year at 1956, more than three decades older than the Colorado Springs average. The city's street crews describe its roads as windy and narrow, which leaves little room at the end of a driveway for a plow berm or a paving crew's trailer.
The Manitou Springs Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1983. Inside the city's local historic districts, exterior alterations visible from a public right-of-way go to the Historic Preservation Commission, while like-for-like maintenance, the same material, type and color, can be approved by planning staff. Resealing an existing asphalt drive fits the second description. Switching a gravel or stone drive to asphalt, or changing its footprint, is a question for the Planning Department before booking anyone. Driveway sealing describes the ordinary maintenance job.
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Rock, runoff and permits in Manitou Springs
The ground here moves in ways the plains do not. The Colorado Geological Survey's map of the Manitou Springs quadrangle describes the mountains as Pikes Peak batholith granite, cut by the Ute Pass fault where it meets younger sedimentary rock, and lists landslides, rockfall and debris flows as hazards of rapid erosion. In the wet spring of 1995 a 70-ton sandstone block above homes shifted 5.5 feet before engineers cabled it in place. On August 9, 2013, a flash flood came off US 24 into the north edge of town and damaged 20 homes. On a drive below a slope or a drainage, runoff deserves the first look.
City Code Chapter 12.04 says no public street, or its gutters, drains, driveways, curbs or sidewalks, may be altered without a permit, and approval can take up to seven business days. City crews plow school bus routes first and residential streets after, treating with sand and with magnesium chloride, which the city says works down to minus 15 degrees. Owners must clear snow from driveway entrances within 24 hours after a storm ends and keep it out of the street. Winter sand tracked up a pitched drive grinds at the surface, so sweeping it off before spring crack filling is part of the job.
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Asphalt Sealcoating Services Available in Manitou Springs
The same seven services reach Manitou Springs, each explained in El Paso and Teller County terms:
See the full pricing guide for typical ranges.
Manitou Springs FAQs
Does resealing a driveway in the Manitou historic district need approval?
Ordinary resealing of an existing asphalt drive is like-for-like maintenance, which the Planning Department's guidance says can receive administrative approval rather than a Historic Preservation Commission review. Changes visible from the street, such as a new paving material, a wider drive or a new curb cut, are exterior alterations that can require commission review, and any work in the right-of-way needs a permit under Chapter 12.04. A call to Planning settles it before a crew is booked.
How do steep Manitou driveways hold up through winter?
They take a lot of grit and meltwater. The city spreads sand along with magnesium chloride on its narrow streets, and that sand rides up driveways on tires, where it scours the surface. Meltwater running down a pitched drive finds every open crack. Filling cracks in early fall, sweeping sand off in spring and asking for a sand-loaded sealer for traction on the next coat are the three habits that suit these grades.
Who clears the street in front of a Manitou Springs home?
The city does, in order: school bus routes first, then residential streets, using magnesium chloride and sand. The driveway entrance is the owner's job, and the city asks that it be cleared within 24 hours after a storm ends, with the snow piled on the lawn or near the curb rather than pushed into the street. On a narrow street, a clear entrance also keeps the plow from packing snow against the apron.
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