Midway resident demands better roads from El Paso County
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. -- Mario Estrada has lived in the Midway community of southern El Paso County for 11 years. He emailed KRDO this week about what he described as the poor condition of roads there.
"I've contacted the county several times and haven't gotten much of a response," he said. "The roads are worse than they should be. They're full of ruts and potholes."
Estrada said Indian Village Heights, on the south end of Midway, is especially troublesome for drivers.
"It's rough, bumpy, and unsafe," he said. "It has damaged my vehicles. I can't safely ride my motorcycle on it. My relatives won't come visit me because they don't want to drive on it. What are they spending my tax money on?"
Scot Cuthbertson, the county's public works director, said he understands the frustration.
"There are a lot of roads out there," he said. "One thing that people find hard to understand or accept is that many of the roads out there are privately owned and maintained. Some aren't maintained at all. There's a long history of roads that were brought into the county and didn't meet county standards, so we don't have responsibility for maintaining them."
Estrada said Indian Village Heights is a county road and should be in better condition.
"It's not much better than some of the private gravel and dirt roads that erode or wash away," he said.
Cuthbertson said the county tries to maintain as many roads as possible, and even placed barricades on some unsafe private roads to keep drivers off them.
"But we're hearing that someone keeps moving the barricades," he said.
Albert L. Vega, another Midway resident, doesn't agree with Estrada that the county should do more.
"It is what it is," Vega said. "When you live in the country you should expect rough roads. I was the first person to move to Midway and they told us then that we're responsible for maintaining our own roads. That's what I do."
Cuthbertson also apologized for a recent messy situation on Indian Village Heights that developed after liquid salt applied to reduce dust, mixed with snow and the road's clay soil later.
