Pueblo County steps in to try to fix road issue in Pueblo West
PUEBLO WEST, Colo. (KRDO)-- Pueblo County and the Pueblo West Metro Board are breaking a nearly 20-year long maintenance agreement that saw Pueblo West maintain its roads. Now, Pueblo County is stepping in and taking over road maintenance.
At a recent meeting, the Metro Board voted to end the previous agreement.
Pueblo West has tried ballot initiatives to generate money for roads, but they've failed. Pueblo West has about 400 miles of roadway, and about 57 of them are not up to standard.
Many of the roads are littered with potholes, while others are just dirt roads that haven't been fully constructed.
With more and more people moving to the area, Metro Board President Doug Proal says the district just doesn't have the money to fix the problems.
"Our road issue has not gone away, in fact, it's gotten worse," Proal said. "We opened a joint meeting about a week and a half ago and the first item on the agenda was 'we're going to take the roads back from you."
Proal told KRDO the metro district has less than $2 million to maintain the roads, and the county recognized it was in a bad spot
The new agreement between Pueblo County and the Metro Board will take effect within the next five years. However, Proal believes people will notice things getting fixed sooner.
"I think our residents will notice right away. I would think within the next six months to a year. I don't think it'll take five years," he said. Nobody's going to drag their feet. We need to do this for our residents, our constituents in Pueblo West."
Census data shows that the population in Pueblo West has grown by 11% in recent years. In addition to fixing the road issues, the metro district is also dealing with water resource issues as well.
