Overton Road Neighbors respond to third day of traffic impacts from detour around Pueblo train derailment
PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- How would you feel if your normally quiet country road suddenly became a temporary interstate highway?
That's what neighbors along the Overton Road detour from I-25 around Sunday's train derailment have experienced for three days.
"Traffic has been going pretty fast, and we're not used to having all the semi-trucks," said Tina Conley, who lives along the rod at the south end of the detour "So, you know, the house is rattling and we're keeping the windows closed, because it's just really noisy."
Another neighbor, Steven Musso, agrees.
"I walk my dog at night, and you can hear it a mile up the road," he said. "It's not ideal."
The road is paved on some stretches, but bumpy and dusty on unpaved sections; the detour has produced traffic congestion that wasn't intended for the road to handle.
Noise and safety are other concerns for neighbors.
Most of the road is in rural, sparsely populated areas but the southern end is near neighborhoods on its southern end.
Authorities have said that although Overton isn't the recommended detour, it will continue to be a more convenient option for drivers exiting I-25 at exit 110 to relieve the volume of traffic because of the derailment.
However, on Wednesday afternoon, authorities reopened southbound I-25 -- essentially reducing the Overton Road traffic volume by half.
The road should return to normal with the expected reopening of northbound I-25 Thursday.
Another neighbor, Tom Jagunich, said that he lives far enough from Overton Road that the noise and traffic don't bother him.
"We're a good two blocks away from it," he said. "So, you can see it, but we don't get any extra noise and it doesn't affect us too badly."
Musso said that he'd like to see all of Overton's nine miles paved.
"They're supposed to put a subdivision in here, and it's not built for that -- let alone highway traffic, he said."
The heavy traffic on Overton has caused some damage to the road; neighbors say that they hope it's repaired soon, and that bridges and other infrastructure will hold up.
