Rock chips on I-25 and US-287: why Fort Collins commuters keep losing windshields

The stretches between Fort Collins and Loveland that throw the most rock, how to drive them, and what to do in the first day after a chip.

Cracked windshield seen from inside a car driving a highway toward mountains

Ask around the Harmony Road park-and-ride and most people have a windshield story that starts on I-25. The corridor between Fort Collins and Loveland has been under construction in one form or another for years, and construction zones are where chips happen: lane shifts put you closer to the trucks, temporary surfaces shed aggregate, and the shoulders collect gravel that gets flung by every set of tires.

The stretches that cause the most damage

I-25 between Harmony Road and US-34. Heavy truck traffic, long work zones, and in winter the sand CDOT spreads at the interchanges. This is where most of the star chips we repair in Fort Collins come from.
US-287 between Fort Collins and Loveland. Gravel haulers and landscaping trucks run this all day. The two-lane sections near the county line are the worst for oncoming spray.
Mulberry Street and the I-25 frontage roads. Lower speeds but a constant mix of trucks pulling out of the industrial lots east of Lemay.
Highway 14 up the Poudre Canyon. Not a commute for most people, but a weekend trip there is the other common chip source for Fort Collins drivers.

Driving to avoid chips

You cannot prevent every rock, but you can stop most of them. Stay well back from dump trucks, flatbeds, and anything hauling a trailer, which means four or five seconds of following distance, not two. When a gravel truck is in the lane next to you, change lanes or let it pull away rather than sitting beside it. In a work zone, pick the lane farthest from the temporary barrier where the loose material collects. After a snow, the first few dry days are the worst for sand, so give trucks extra room until the plows and sweepers have cleared the lanes.

The first 24 hours after a chip

Look at it in good light. If the chip is smaller than a quarter and not directly in front of your eyes, it is almost certainly repairable.
Put a piece of clear tape over it. This keeps dirt and water out. A clean chip repairs nearly invisibly; a dirty one leaves a mark.
Do not blast the defroster. A cold windshield warmed fast from the inside is how a chip becomes a 12-inch crack. Warm the car gently.
Skip the car wash. High-pressure water and hot air both stress the damaged area.
Get it repaired within the week. Fort Collins swings 40 degrees between afternoon and night for much of the year. Each cycle works the crack a little further.

Repair while it is still a repair

A chip repair in Fort Collins takes about 30 minutes, costs under $150, and is often free with comprehensive coverage. A replacement starts at a few hundred dollars and goes up quickly on a car with a camera. The difference between the two is usually just a week or two of waiting. If you picked one up on the drive in this morning, send the form before lunch and it can be done in your office parking lot this afternoon.