UPDATE: Colorado Springs mayor comments on road report
THURSDAY
Colorado Springs city leaders said they weren’t surprised by the results of a national report, rating them 24th in repair costs paid by drivers for road damage.
An east coast nonprofit group, TRIP, officially released the report Thursday.
According to the report, licensed drivers pay an average of $723 annually in repairs caused by bad streets and roads.
“That’s tire wear, realignments, gas mileage,” said Mayor John Suthers.
On a positive note, the city was not among the 25 worst in overall driving conditions.
“But that’s not much consolation,” Suthers said. “We know we have room for improvement. But we made a stronger commitment to repairs before the report came out.”
Corey Farkas, manager of the city’s Streets Division, said crews continue to make gradual progress on repairing potholes and repaving some of the worst streets.
“We’re making progress even though rainy weather has slowed us down,” Farkas said.
The report rates 72 percent of city streets and roads as in poor or mediocre condition.
“The City Council and I are determined to deal with this to the extent we can,” Suthers said.
Suthers said he shares a concern with the report’s researchers, that substandard streets and roads could stall economic development.
“Some of the companies that might expand here, have been holding off to see what direction the city’s going to go,” he said. “I’ve certainly heard that from a couple of companies.”
Suthers said the report should give voters more reason to support a proposed sales tax increase in November that would generate $250 million for improvements over the next five years.
To see the full TRIP report, visit: http://www.tripnet.org/docs/Urban_Roads_TRIP_Report_July_2015.pdf
WEDNESDAY
A Washington, D.C.,-based research group provided a preview of where Colorado Springs ranks in an upcoming report on streets and roads.
The nonprofit group, TRIP, said Wednesday that the city is among the 25 worst for damage to vehicles from bad driving surfaces, and for the lack of money spent on infrastructure repair.
However, what may surprise critics of the city’s streets and roads is that Colorado Springs is not one of the 25 worst cities for overall driving conditions.
“I totally agree with the 25 worst category,” Sara Zbypovsky, a local driver, said. “It cost $600 to fix the alignment and tires on my husband’s car after he hit a pothole. But it surprises me that our roads aren’t among the 25 worst.”
Some drivers said the report is interesting but carries no real significance.
“If people are having to pay a ton of money to repair their car because of potholes, then it’s a bad deal for the city and for drivers, and it needs to be fixed,” David Shaver said.
Jill Blankenbaker agreed.
“Just fix the streets and roads,” she said.
Many drivers said they’ve seen a noticeable improvement in street and road conditions since city made repairs a greater priority.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 will post more details about the full report when it’s released at 10 a.m. Thursday.
TUESDAY
An upcoming report confirms what many drivers already suspect — that Colorado Springs has some of the nation’s worst streets and roads.
TRIP, a nonprofit transportation research group, said the city rates low when compared to other cities of larger and similar size. The group said the rating includes damage done to vehicles and infrastructure repair.
The report is called “Bumpy Roads Ahead: America’s Roughest Rides and Strategies to Make our Roads Smoother.”
Information on transportation funding, travel trends and economic development are part of the report.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 will bring you more details on the report when it is released Thursday morning.
