Business Owners Brake For New Pueblo Freeway
The Colorado Department of Transportation announced its future plans for Interstate 25 on Thursday at the Pueblo Convention Center.
Citizens shared their comments and concerns on the proposed alternatives presented in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the new Pueblo freeway.
The purpose of the project is to improve safety on I-25 through Pueblo by replacing deteriorating roadways and bridges and improving local and regional mobility to meet existing and future travel demands, according to CDOT.
Changes to the seven-mile stretch of I-25, between mile marker 47 and 94, have been in the works since 2000.
“It is an aging transportation facility and it would be better that it is repaired or replaced to make it much safer,” said Glenn Ballantyne, Public Involvement Specialist.
Some business owners are worried it could wipe out their livelihoods.
“We’re concerned that they’re removing businesses around us and leaving us to fend for ourselves,” said Rick Hobbs of Hobbs Carpet & Tile.
Hobbs Carpet & Tile is located at the corner of Ilex and Sante Fe Avenue. It’s one of the first locations that will be changed by the new Pueblo freeway.
“Ilex has one of the highest accident rates within the state on the interstate system,” said Ballantyne.
The I-25 expansion includes closing Ilex Avenue both north and southbound.
According to Hobbs, his business will get to stay at the location, but access to his business will be limited especially during construction.
“You can’t take away 75 to 80 percent of traffic and expect things to be okay,” said Hobbs.
Property owner Dominic Mannino owns a shopping center on the 900 block of South Sante Fe. Several businesses lease offices, including American Medical Response.
Mannino said he was contacted three years ago by CDOT officials about the project, but has not heard anything until recently when his tenants told him they got a notice to move in 90 days.
“There’s no way they can pick up and move a facility like this. It will take a least a year,” said Mannino.
CDOT wants to expand I-25 straight through the shopping center. Mannino said for AMR, it’s a public safety concern.
“They need to stay in a central location like this, easy access to the highway,” he said.
Mannino said he is open for change but would like more communication from CDOT.
All comments received at the public hearing and during the review period will be addressed and considered before the final EIS, scheduled for completion in the summer of 2012.
