Roads - Still a Priority

Most of the funds going to El Paso County Department of Transportation (DOT) are dedicated funds and not available for use elsewhere in the county. In other words, we can not take money from the Road and Bridge mill levy and transfer it to the Sheriff, Parks or other non transportation function. Another thing we are guarding zealously is the promise made to the voters when the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) was voted on that we would not reduce DOT funding below the 2004 level. PPRTA funds the majority of our road maintenance. Prior to the PPRTA, the county was overlaying about 6 lane miles of road each year, last year the number was 29, so we are very careful to not put something that has allowed us to do five times the maintenance work at risk.

With milling machines, asphalt trucks and rollers in the neighborhood the questions have begun about why we canít complete all the roads in the neighborhood. The short answer is ìtoo many roads, too many neighborhoodsî. To expand on that, there are just under 1000 miles of paved road in the county system, double that for lane miles, one going each direction, the occasional stretch of four lane, turn lanes, etc. and we are well over 2000 miles of lane miles, and last year was a good year with 29 lane miles overlaid. Many of our roads are 20 to 30 years old and have received no maintenance other than pothole patching so we have a serious backlog of roads in poor condition. We have a plan be in the road maintenance business and not just dealing with road failures, but for now we are still playing catch-up.

For the most part concrete work is completed one year with asphalt the next, so if we are working on gutters and handicap ramps this summer that gives you an idea of where we will be overlaying next summer. For those of you on Woody Creek Drive, it is so bad we will be doing a total rebuild later this summer. The question during reconstruction wonít be which couple of hours will you not be able to use your driveway, but how do we get you close enough to your house to carry in the groceries.

CONTACT THE WRITER • HISEY4CD4@MSN.COM

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