Pueblo seeks funding for $2 million rebuild of stretch of Lime Road

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - The city's public works director said that constant heavy truck traffic on an industrial road on the city's south end has damaged it enough to require a full reconstruction.

The road at issue is a two-lane, 1.5-mile stretch of Lime Road, east of the Stem Beach exit on Interstate 25, which connects with several major industries that include a power plant, a concrete plant and a wind turbine manufacturer.

According to director Andrew Hayes, crews have had to patch holes and cracks in the concrete pavement with asphalt, which causes very bumpy driving.

He said that the solution is to rip out the concrete and replace it with asphalt.

"Asphalt roads can also take a very, very heavy load, as well," Hayes explained. "They just need to be designed to do that. And so, that's what we're preparing for, with the understanding, again, that there's a lot of industrial activities going back there with those heavy vehicles."

However, the city doesn't have money in the budget for the project, so officials are applying for state and federal grants to finance the rebuild.

The city's section of Lime Road, Hayes explained, is from just east of I-25 to a railroad crossing.

"At one point it was a county road and later was annexed by the city," he said. "There's a small portion right up close to I-25 that's still in (the state's) right-of-way. There's a portion just after that's in the county, and then the city picks up, and then it goes back into the county again. So, there's multiple jurisdictions that have maintenance responsibilities over its entire length."

Once funding is in place, Hayes said, the project could be finished in a few months but will require lane closures and other traffic impacts.

He also said that some of the old concrete will be used as a base for the new asphalt road.