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Asphalt Paving in La Crosse

Asphalt Paving in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Lot paving, overlays and tear-out-and-replace for commercial properties in La Crosse. Base graded, compacted and drained before any mix goes down.

4.7 from 21 Google reviews

About two hours southeast of Eau Claire on I-94 and I-90. The estimate is free.

A freshly paved asphalt lot in deep black, running up to a white barn and silo.
4.7 Google ratingFrom 21 reviews
6-12 mo Before first sealNew asphalt has to cure
15-20 yrs Well-built drivewayIf it gets sealed

Working in La Crosse

Airport Industrial Park is full at 21 lots over about 95 acres, and La Crosse International Business Park north of I-90 has five lots left between 1.15 and 3.4 acres, so new-ground paving here is mostly those and whatever comes out of the River Point District downtown. Everywhere else the question is overlay or tear-out. An overlay is right when the base is sound and the surface is worn; a tear-out is right when the base is the problem, because a new mat over a bad base reflects the same cracks through by the second winter. On new ground the base gets graded, compacted and drained before any mix goes down.

From our jobs

Job Photos

A large freshly paved asphalt lot curving around a landscaped island in front of a low institutional building
A lot repaved, edge to edge
A freshly paved asphalt driveway running up to a three-bay garage, caution tape across the street end
A driveway repaved and taped off to cure

All job photos

Overlay or tear out and replace?

An overlay is new asphalt laid over the old surface. It's roughly half the cost of a replacement, it goes down in a day, and it's the right answer when the existing base is sound and the surface has simply worn out. It's the wrong answer when the base has failed, because an overlay follows the shape of what's underneath. Lay one over a surface that's cracked into squares and those cracks come through the new mat within two or three years, and the overlay only delayed the replacement. That conversation is worth having before the quote, not after.

What Decides the Price in La Crosse

Asphalt tracks the oil market, so a number from last season is not a number for this one. Every job here is measured on site and the number is fixed before work starts.

Tear out and replace

Per square foot

Measured on site

  • Old surface out, base rebuilt, new mat laid and rolled

Gravel to asphalt

Per square foot

Measured on site

  • Common out in the townships, where drives are long
  • Grading and drainage are most of the work and most of the cost

The setup on a long rural drive is spread over more area than on a short town one. If you've been told a long drive is prohibitive, it's worth a second number.

How the Work Goes in La Crosse

The base is the part you never see and the part that decides everything.

Work out where the water goes

Before anything else. Grade and drainage decide the lifespan, and they're the one thing that can't be fixed later without starting again.

Remove, or prepare what stays

Full replacement means the old surface comes out. An overlay means the existing surface is cleaned, failed areas cut out and patched, and the edges prepared.

Base, graded and compacted

Compacted in lifts to the right depth for what will drive on it. A driveway and a lot that takes delivery trucks need different bases, and building both the same way is how one of them fails early.

Lay and roll

Hot mix laid to the design thickness and rolled while it's hot. Compaction is time-limited, which is why paving is a day that runs to the weather.

Tell you when to seal it

Not this year. New asphalt needs six to twelve months to cure before its first seal, and sealing too early traps the oils and does more harm than leaving it alone.

Questions We Get in La Crosse

What La Crosse calls us about, answered straight.

More questions answered
That's two hours from Eau Claire. Do you actually come this far?
For commercial lots, yes. It's about 87 miles and right around two hours, down I-94 and then I-90. Send the address and what the lot needs and we'll set up a time to walk it. The estimate is free.
We manage several properties around town. Can they be looked at together?
Yes. Send the addresses and what you're seeing at each one, and they get walked and measured together. You get quantities and a number per property rather than a lump, so you can decide which ones go this year and which ones wait.
Can I overlay the driveway instead of replacing it?
If the base is sound, yes, and it saves roughly half. If the surface is cracked into squares that flex underfoot, no: the base has failed and those cracks will come through a new overlay within a couple of years.
When can we drive on new asphalt?
Cars after about 24 hours once it has cooled properly, heavy vehicles after several days. In hot weather keep the wheels moving when you turn for the first few weeks, because fresh asphalt scuffs.

The Lots and Surfaces in La Crosse

La Crosse is the seat of La Crosse County and the biggest city on this end of the road, about 51,000 people on the Mississippi where the bluffs come down to the river. It's roughly 87 miles from Eau Claire, right around two hours, off Exit 3 or Exit 2 on I-90. US 14, 53 and 61 and Highways 16, 33 and 35 all run through, and the regional airport sits on French Island at the north end of the city.

Health care and distribution hold the biggest lots. Gundersen Health System is on South Avenue with 325 beds and a 500,000 square foot critical care building, and Mayo Clinic Health System is on West Avenue South with a new six-level, 96-bed hospital and its center for advanced medicine. Kwik Trip's distribution center on Kwik Trip Way runs more than 360,000 square feet on a campus of about 90 acres, has been expanded five times since 1996, works around the clock and moves 33,000 pallets a day out to more than 566 stores. Trane was founded here in 1913.

The industrial ground is out at the interstate. Airport Industrial Park sits next to La Crosse Regional Airport at Exit 2, 21 filled lots over roughly 95 acres with warehouse and manufacturing users around it, and La Crosse International Business Park is north of I-90 off Highway 16 with five lots left between 1.15 and 3.4 acres. On the institutional side there are two public high schools, Central on Losey Boulevard South and Logan on Ranger Drive, plus UW-La Crosse on 128 acres, Viterbo on about 21, and Western Technical College's main campus on 7th Street North with four more buildings in the city. The city is promoting the River Point District, a mixed-use redevelopment on the waterfront.

Where we work in La Crosse

  • Airport Industrial Park
  • La Crosse International Business Park
  • Kwik Trip Way
  • South Avenue
  • French Island

Around La Crosse: Grandad Bluff, Riverside Park, The La Crosse Center, La Crosse Regional Airport on French Island, The Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman.

51,049 people, 2024 Census estimate.

La Crosse is the biggest city sitting entirely inside the Driftless Area. The ice never got here, so there's no glacial drift, the bluffs run up close to 600 feet, bedrock is at or near the surface, and the valley walls are colluvium.

Get a Free Estimate in La Crosse

Tell us what it looks like and we'll come measure it. You get a written price before anything starts.

(715) 450-9897
  • Free on commercial lots and properties in La Crosse
  • A photo of the problem helps, and it can go in the message
  • Surfaces that are not ready yet get told so at the estimate

Get an estimate

Send the form and we'll call you back. The estimate is free.

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