Street repairs near Pueblo South High School to close roads next week
Residents and commuters in the south side of Pueblo should be prepared for road closures next week as the city completes road repairs in tandem with Pueblo Water installing a water main on the northeast edge of South High School from Monday through Friday.
The intersection of Northern Avenue with Lehigh Avenue to the northwest and Hollywood Drive to the southeast will be closed from Sept. 26-30. The road closure will start where Lehigh Avenue and Stanford Avenue intersect, continue through Northern Avenue and end before the intersection of Hollywood Drive and Baystate Avenue, according to a press release from the city.
The city is encouraging Pueblo drivers to take alternate routes through neighborhood roads during the road construction, such as Wedgewood Drive and Vassar Avenue on the northern side of the temporary closure and Clemson Drive and Vinewood Lane on the western end.
“While there will inevitably be some traffic delays in the area during construction, the coordination of the water line installation with the upcoming paving project will ultimately leave drivers with a safe and smooth road surface on Northern Avenue for years to come,” Director of Public Works Andrew Hayes said in a news release. “We appreciate drivers’ patience while we continue working to improve Pueblo’s roads.”
City officials coordinated with Pueblo Water on the timing of the project.
“Pueblo Water takes advantage of every opportunity to reduce inconveniences to our customers. In partnering with the City of Pueblo on this project, we can ensure that our infrastructure under newly surfaced roadways is renewed with an expected service life for generations into the future,” said Scot Burbidge, a division manager at Pueblo Water.
The upgrades to the road are part of the city’s goal of spending $10 million this year on road upgrades, which is significantly higher than previous allocations. Puebloans have historically had a lower opinion about the quality of road infrastructure compared to other municipalities — three out of four respondents to the 2022 community survey said they were dissatisfied with the overall maintenance of city streets.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Closures planned on Northern Ave. and other South Side streets Sept. 26-30
