First examples of new road updates on display by Pueblo County after taking over maintenance responsibility from Pueblo West
PUEBLO WEST, Colo. (KRDO) -- A rehabbed Yerba Santa Nichols Drive through southwest Pueblo West is one of the first major project completed by Pueblo County this year, after accepting responsibility for public works from Pueblo West.
The project smoothed out the bumpy "washboard effect" on a gravel road in a neighborhood full of them, and added an application of magnesium chloride for dust control.
One homeowner said that she likes the new road because it's a big improvement from being damaged by erosion and flooding during heavy rain.
The consensus seems to be a hope for more such projects, more often, in the growing community of around 34,000 that has 400 paved and unpaved roads.
County spokesman Adam Uhernik said that the county's new road maintenance responsibilities will focus mostly on improving those unpaved roads.
"A paved road project can cost $1 million per mile or more," he said. "By emphasizing the gravel roads, we can get more for our money."
Pueblo County commissioners are pledging to be more proactive and less reactive in addressing road improvements and stormwater upgrades in Pueblo West.
Commissioners said that they held Tuesday’s town hall meeting after public criticism at a recent commissioner meeting about the situation.
“We got slammed pretty good in there,” recalled Commissioner Zach Swearingen, who — along with fellow Commissioner Daneya Esgar — represents Pueblo West.
Esgar said that she believes commissioners heard every complaint and concern.
“I think the biggest issue is the federal stormwater permit,” she said. “We don't know if the Pueblo West Metro Board, or Pueblo County, is responsible for that. Estimates are it could cost $100 million of fix all of it.”
Stormwater infrastructure is among the few remaining unresolved issues in the recent transfer of public works responsibilities from Pueblo West to Pueblo County; that transfer began in January but wasn’t finalized until May.
It meant that the county got off to a somewhat late start on road projects, which is one of the sources of public criticism.
Last fall, along with voting in favor of the switch, residents also approved — after two previous failures — paying a penny sales tax that is intended to generate up to $5 million annually for road maintenance.
Anthony Sandstrom, of the Pueblo West Metro District, said that he’s happy with Tuesday’s feedback session.
"We know that residents have had a lot of questions with this transfer, and it's unique because you're moving it from one government to another, and they're still learning the ropes,” he said. “And I appreciate that they were straight up with the residents to say that hey, we're still learning."
