Two roads from Boulder into Louisville
Louisville is 9 miles from Boulder by road, approximately; the city describes itself as nine miles east of Boulder and about 22 miles northwest of Denver. The truck has two ways in, and where the car sits picks one:
- US 36 to McCaslin Boulevard. The Turnpike exit signed for Superior and Louisville, and the way into the McCaslin commercial corridor, which runs from US 36 north to Via Appia Way.
- South Boulder Road. The surface road between Boulder and Lafayette, reached from the US 36 interchange at Table Mesa Drive and Foothills Parkway; in Louisville its business stretch runs from about Garfield Road to Etna Drive.
Short as the run is, the truck still has to reach the right side of the road, so tell us which way you were headed. The arrival window we give on the call allows for US 36 traffic and the weather, and a Louisville job after dark is quoted exactly like one at midday.
Past the city limits, the unincorporated land around Louisville is patrolled by the Boulder County Sheriff, which also polices Superior, across US 36, under contract. For a missing car on either side of that line, the first number is the same one Louisville uses.
McCaslin, CO 42 and the lots: Louisville's tow calls
The McCaslin diverging diamond
The McCaslin Boulevard interchange on US 36, between Louisville and Superior, became Colorado's second diverging diamond interchange when its new pattern opened on October 19, 2015. On the bridge, traffic crosses to the opposite side of the road so that turns onto the highway ramps flow without waiting for oncoming cars, and bus ramps built with it keep buses out of the general merge. It moves traffic, but a car that quits on that bridge is sitting on the unfamiliar side, so the details we need are your direction on McCaslin and whether you had reached the crossover.
CO 42, South Boulder Road and downtown
CO 42 is the state highway on 95th and 96th Streets, running south from CO 7 in northwest Lafayette into Louisville and then east on Empire Road to US 287. South Boulder Road crosses Louisville on its way to Lafayette. Historic downtown, an eight-block commercial center, offers two-hour, unlimited and seasonal parking, and a car left there through a long evening with the headlights on is a flat-battery call.
Two parking populations sit in Louisville all day: AdventHealth Avista Hospital, and the Colorado Technology Center, the city's largest commercial and industrial park at over 400 acres. Cars parked there through a long cold shift come back to tired batteries, and that is a roadside call, not a tow.
Louisville police, towed cars and the snow priorities
Louisville has its own police department, at 992 Via Appia Way, 303-666-8634. Calls to 911 and to the non-emergency line, 303-441-4444, go to the Boulder Regional Communications Center, which dispatches for most of Boulder County, Louisville included. If your car is missing from a Louisville street, start there: the agency that ordered a tow has the details, and the PUC points owners to it first to learn which company has the car.
If the car was taken from an apartment complex lot, look around the lot for the towing company's signs, as the PUC suggests, and call the company named on them. Those tows are nonconsensual and regulated under Colorado's towing rules, 4 CCR 723-6, and the carrier must hand over your personal property on request within 30 days of notice, at no charge; the Boulder guide to finding a towed car covers the rest. Crash reports come from the Colorado Department of Revenue's website.
Louisville ranks its streets for snow. Priority 1 is major arterials, 2 is collectors, 3 is residential through streets and 4 is every other residential street, cul-de-sacs included. The city clears Priority 1 and 2 once snow passes 2 inches and all four at 4 inches or more, and cul-de-sacs come last because they need a smaller truck with a V-plow. The March 13-14, 2021 storm left 22.0 inches in Louisville and 25.6 inches two miles west-southwest of town by the National Weather Service's count; after a storm like that, a car stuck at the end of a cul-de-sac is work for our winch line, before the plow gets there.
Which tow truck a Louisville job needs
A Louisville tow can be a hop across town to your mechanic or a run to a dealer in Boulder or Denver, and the drivetrain picks the truck. A front-wheel-drive car can go on the wheel-lift, the more compact of the two trucks. All-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles, electric cars and anything that will not roll go on the flatbed, where no wheel touches the road, and why every AWD car rides our flatbed has the rest.
In a parking structure, downtown or at the hospital, give us the level and any posted clearance; a flatbed's deck needs headroom a wheel-lift does not, so that one answer can change the truck we send. Where the car should end up - a shop on South Boulder Road, a Boulder dealer, your garage - sets the rest of the quote.
Our trucks are light-duty, built for cars, SUVs, pickups, vans and motorcycles. If a job is past a light-duty rating, we say so before anything is dispatched.
Towing around Louisville: Superior, Lafayette and Broomfield
Superior is across US 36 at McCaslin. Lafayette, 11 miles from Boulder, is next along South Boulder Road and CO 42, and towing in Lafayette off South Boulder Road is covered separately; Broomfield, at 13, is one exit down US 36 from McCaslin. For the whole service area, start with everything we cover from Boulder.
Frequently asked
How far do your trucks drive to reach Louisville?
About 9 miles by road; the City of Louisville puts itself nine miles east of Boulder. We come in on US 36 to McCaslin Boulevard or along South Boulder Road, whichever reaches the car sooner, and give the arrival window on the call.
My car is missing in Louisville - who do I call?
Start with the non-emergency line, 303-441-4444, which the Boulder Regional Communications Center answers for Louisville police, and ask whether an officer ordered the tow. For a car taken from an apartment complex lot, the PUC suggests checking the towing company signs posted around the lot to see who may have it.
What should I do if my car dies on the McCaslin diverging diamond?
Put the hazards on, and call 911 first if anyone is hurt or the car is blocking a lane. Then tell us which way you were driving on McCaslin and whether you had passed the crossover, so the truck comes in on your side.
When does Louisville plow cul-de-sacs?
Last. Cul-de-sacs are Priority 4 streets, cleared once snow reaches 4 inches, after arterials, collectors and residential through streets, and they need a smaller truck with a V-plow. A car stuck in one before the plow arrives usually needs a winch-out, not a tow.
Do you tow all-wheel-drive and electric cars from Louisville?
Yes. They ride the flatbed with every wheel off the pavement, the setup AAA names as ideal for all-wheel and four-wheel drive. Tell us the make, model and drivetrain when you call, and whether an electric car will power up.