COLORADO SPRINGS — If you're heading out for a drive this weekend and notice serious problems on our state's highways or interstates Colorado Department of Transportation officials say they want to know about it. News5 takes a deep dive into how to make these reports and why they matter.
If you talk to public works leaders they'll tell you pothole concerns are some of the most frequent complaints they get, but some of our viewers are asking what do you do if the rough ride is happening on the state's interstates or highways?
"It gave the car a hard enough jolt that the hubcap came off," said Steve Ford who is frustrated by the rough ride he's experienced lately on I-25. "From Fountain all the way to the southern end of Colorado Springs it's a disaster and it's going to ultimately end up getting somebody hurt if they don't fix it."
Ford says he's had concerns for awhile now, but he wasn't sure what he could do about it.
"That was one of the reasons why I was reaching out to you," Ford said. "I didn't know who to contact."
The Colorado Department of Transportation tells News5, reports from drivers like Ford are crucial for maintaining our interstates and highways.
"We have crews that we call patrols that are assigned to different areas and specific mile points. They travel those roadways back and forth looking for road damage, looking for things that are wrong and need to be fixed, but they can't see everything," said CDOT Southeast Region spokesperson Michelle Peulen.
You can contact CDOT on the phone, but when you're not driving you can also visit the new CDOT website cotrip.org to share your concerns.
"We do have a chat option. You can click on chat and determine I'm in El Paso County which is in Region 2 and look we have a region 2 chat live available," said Peulen. "You can submit a customer service case if you want to report a pothole or whatever it may be. You create a case and then it sends this immediately to CDOT."
For the most thorough and quick response you'll want to be specific with where the problem is. Making a report also provides a paper trail News5 can follow up on if it seems a fix isn't getting attention.
CDOT says I-25 is prioritized because of the heavy traffic volume it sees.
"We need to know what roadway you're on, what direction you're traveling, what lane you are in. Are you in the right lane? Left lane? The center lane? Where are you?" said Peulen.
If the roadway danger is life threatening, it's best to call 911.
"We're talking life and limb. A huge animal on the roadway, a large sink hole," said Peulen.
When it comes specifically to the stretch of I-25 that Ford is concerned about between Fountain and Colorado Springs, CDOT agrees there are problems and a major three year project is about to start to fix them.
"We know that rough ride is there we know that there are some cracks and some potholes. This particular project is going to address that," said Peulen.
"I'm just happy to hear they intend to do something about it and much better than what they did in the past," Ford told News5.
If you need to report a road issue on one of Colorado's highways or interstates you can visit https://www.cotrip.org/home to report concerns at all hours or you can call 719-562-5568 between 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday.
Here is the direct link for the various ways to get in touch with a CDOT official who can help you: https://www.codot.gov/topcontent/contact-cdot
