PUEBLO WEST — A large pothole that previously dominated the middle of Siesta Drive in Pueblo West has been repaired as Pueblo County crews paved the road.
Mark Senn, a Pueblo West resident who previously described the roads near his house as an obstacle course, showed us the severity of the problem by lying down in one of the potholes.
"I really don't describe it as a road. I describe it more of an obstacle course," Senn said during our first interview.
At that time, Senn said there was a massive need for a permanent pothole solution rather than temporary fixes.
"Not a Band-Aid fix, but I mean a permanent fix on them that they won't come back in two years and redo it again. They need to spend the money to fix the roads so that they're good for the next 10 years up here," Senn said.
Around 2 weeks after News5 did a story about the problematic potholes, county crews began working on Siesta Drive. Senn took a video of the progress, showing crews completely tearing up the road down to the dirt before repaving the entire surface.
"It was shortly after our first interview that we had, probably less than two weeks later, all of a sudden these roads are being torn up completely down to the dirt," Senn said.
While pleased with the progress on Siesta Drive, Senn said many other streets in Pueblo West still need attention.
"I hope to see more of it," Senn said. "I know that there's hundreds of other streets also that do need attention, so I just hope that people in charge are prioritizing the streets and looking to see which ones need it worse than others."
Senn lives on nearby Ferncliff Drive, where he takes regular walks.
“I decided, well, you know what, I'm just going to count these potholes, see what it is. And as I walked up to my house, which is about halfway through the block of Fern Cliff, I came up with 47 potholes and that's a lot of potholes,” Senn said.
According to Senn, neighbors received an email from a Pueblo County commissioner stating that "The roads and bridge team will be out within the next two weeks to fill potholes with gravel. This is not a permanent fix but hopefully it will help to improve the current situation."
For now Ferncliff Drive won't receive the same complete repaving as Siesta Drive, Senn hopes there will eventually be permanent repairs.
"Long term, I'd like to see our street look like this. It'd be great. It'd be great. I might even get a pair of roller blades again and hang out on it," Senn said.
___
Department of Local Affairs designates four cities as Main Street Communities
Cripple Creek and Woodland Park join more than 30 cities statewide with the "Main Street community" designation.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.