EL PASO COUNTY — In the wake of our investigation, El Paso County officials have now confirmed Colorado Centre area Streets making up about 4 miles of county roadway are failing and will need to be completely rebuilt. The problem is the price tag will be somewhere between $5 and $7 million dollars. The funding isn't there, but the county commissioner who represents the area now vows to fight for dollars to schedule and begin work on the roads as soon as possible.
We showed you in our investigation Tuesday night just how bad the road conditions have become in the 30 years since homes were built in Colorado Centre. Wednesday night, El Paso County Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez joined other county leaders including an expert from public works to discuss with homeowners how the county might begin to address road problems in Colorado Centre that have been put off for decades. Residents say they're thankful this conversation is now in the spotlight for county leaders.
"Do I think it's going to happen tomorrow? No," said Joan Lucia-Treese, a Colorado Centre are resident and community leader. "But at least we are in the discussion phase. We now have the attention of our elected officials to realize these roads are at complete failure and so for that I'm grateful."
"Trying to disperse those few extra million dollars amongst the entire county it's not going to be enough to address every road in this community for a reconstruction. But absolutely we are going to make sure that the needed hot spots and the repairs and maintenance are being conducted," said Commissioner Gonzalez.
So how long will it take to come up with a plan to rebuild the Colorado Centre roads? News5 Investigates spoke with the leader of El Paso County Public Works who says the challenge of this rebuild and the costs keeps him up at night. Thursday night at 10 Patrick Nelson goes one-on-one with the county roads expert to find out what these county residents can expect.
As county leaders begin to sort this out, officials say the best way to report any road concerns in the county is through this website: https://citizenconnect.elpasoco.com/#/homepage
