Some residents of Security-Widefield eagerly await street repaving while coping with flash flooding
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Five streets in Security-Widefield are widely considered to be in the worst condition for that community, and will get a much-needed repaving this summer.
That is, if it ever stops raining.
Some neighbors tell KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior that late spring rainfall has occasionally flooded streets as crews perform concrete work to prepare for repaving.
The latest example came Tuesday along Chimayo Drive, one of the streets on the repaving list; a homeowner, Jesse Rehm, said that the street had several feet of water covering his yard and almost reaching his front porch.
“At least it wasn’t as bad as it was last year,” he said. “I spent like $26,000 in repairs to piping and restoration for my crawl space. I thought I was going to have to foreclose on my house because I just bought this place. Me and my wife, we bought this place almost 3 years ago, and she’s pregnant right now.”
Neighbors said that some of the concrete crew cleared a clogged storm drain that caused the flooding, and the water quickly drained away.
Still, some residents wonder what good repaving will do if streets are under water during significant rainfall in late spring, summer, and early fall.
Dan Gerhard, a public works engineer for El Paso County, said that flash flooding won’t cause serious delays in the concrete work for repaving.
“With something like that, if we have nice weather, (workers) will be back pouring concrete tomorrow. So, it really doesn’t delay us too much. We have had quite a bit of rain the past 2-3 weeks. For the most part, thankfully, all the rain has been in the afternoon and we’ve been able to get a lot of work done before the rain comes.”
Last summer, the county resurfaced several streets in Security-Widefield, using a method known as slurry-sealing; the method is designed to extend the life of streets that don’t require a full rebuild, and is less expensive than asphalt repaving.
Many residents were unaware of that and asked why streets that appeared to be in good condition were resurfaced, while streets in worse condition were not.
Chimayo Drive, Bison Drive, Alturas Drive, Holly Drive, and Birch Drive will be repaved this summer.
Gerhard said that the county is working on a plan, updated every five years, to guide decisions about repaving and other resurfacing treatments.
The county is also in the early stages of forming a long-range master plan to reduce flooding and improve drainage; repairs to a crumbling drainage ditch south of Fontaine Boulevard are a recent upgrade to the area’s drainage infrastructure.