Determining who’s responsible for responding to road, street issues challenging for southern Colorado residents
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Local governments advise citizens to contact them directly when reporting potholes or other infrastructure concerns.
But occasionally, it's difficult for people to know whether a city, county or state agency has jurisdiction over a certain area.
It's a situation that has recently developed in and around Pueblo.
A viewer notified KRDO13 about a frontage road near the Belmont post office in east Pueblo, along US 50 at the intersection of Bonforte Boulevard and Hudson Avenue.
The road is crumbling -- with cracked pavement, numerous potholes and a deteriorating drainage culvert.
The viewer who contacted The Road Warrior said that she wasn't sure who is responsible for maintaining the road.
Late Monday afternoon, we learned that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has jurisdiction and will send a crew out to make repairs; the agency said that it will also improve the entrance to the road from US 50.
A similar situation exists downtown.
According to a viewer who contacted The Road Warrior, drivers regularly scrape their vehicles on two driveways in front of the Catholic Charities office and the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, on 10th Street between Grand Avenue and Greenwood Street.
The problem appears to be that the parking lot and the street are higher than the curb and gutter between; Catholic Charities and Pueblo's public works director are determining who is responsible for addressing the matter.
Finally, a viewer brought a third issue to our attention: A damaged guardrail on Pueblo County Road 345 -- also known as Abbey Road -- next to a bridge along Interstate 25 in southern Pueblo County.
Steve Zurovski, a neighbor, said that the guardrail had been damaged for so long that the road around it had eroded severely.
"I have been calling in to various county agencies to report the damage for approximately four years," he told KRDO13 in April. "The damage has yet to be repaired and no disposition of the case is available."
A month later, however -- after The Road Warrior inquired about the matter -- Zurovski revealed that a CDOT crew repaired the damage.
"Thank you kindly for your assistance with this," he wrote in an email. "We appreciate your time and expertise."
A tip for citizens: Any issue that is along or on an interstate highway, state highway or US highway is likely in CDOT's jurisdiction; if it's not, you can contact your local city, town or county government.
Also, keep in mind that some road-related concerns are on private roads not maintained by a local government -- as is the case in the Midway community south of Colorado Springs, where residents often complain about the quality of gravel roads.
