Message from the Director

We often talk about the fact that County government touches almost every person in our community, and that is particularly true when it comes to our County owned infrastructure.

M E S S A G E F R O M T H E D I R E C T O R

J A C K L A D L E Y - I N T E R I M D I R E C T O R

Through continued and sustained investment in our transportation infrastructure, our goal is to ensure these assets are here for generations to come and, just as importantly, are safe and reliable.

Our Department of Public Works employees are dedicated and diligent, and their work instills confidence in all of us. However, what is often lost in the conversation on transportation infrastructure is the shear size of El Paso County and its roadway network. El Paso County covers 2,158 square miles, an area larger than the State of Delaware. For additional perspective, our roadway network consists of 4,406 miles of paved and gravel roads. If laid end-to-end, this network would stretch from the City of Colorado Springs to Belfast, Ireland!

A transportation network this size requires constant and dedicated attention. Our Public Works Employees, although a relatively small team, deliver this needed attention on a daily basis. So far this year they have completed paving projects on County Line Road, Baptist Road, Shoup Road, and Milam Road. They are currently working to complete paving projects on Woodmen Road and Syracuse Street with additional paving projects in the proverbial ‘hopper’ that are ready go.They’ve also completed 7,750 miles of gravel road maintenance, 107 lane miles of dust abatement and reclamation, 50 lane miles of graveling, and 51 lane miles of chip seal. Following is just a smattering of additional accomplishments thus far this year:

561 Right-of-Way Permits Processed 27,837 811 Locates Completed 2,122 Stormwater Inspections Completed 574 Scheduled Vehicle Work Orders Completed 2,293 Unscheduled Vehicle Work Orders Completed 5,106 Potholes Repaired 22 Miles of Roadway Crack Sealing 1,129 Miles of Street Sweeping 7,850 Linear Feet of Stormwater Ditch Cleaned/Repaired 3,851 Linear Feet of Guardrail Repaired/Replaced 632 Signs Repaired/Replaced 511 Traffic Signal Maintenance Action

Despite the size of El Paso County, its transportation infrastructure, and the volume of work required to keep this infrastructure safe and reliable, your Department of Public Works Employees remain “Ready and Resilient” . Whether it is ‘regular work’ as noted above, or emergency response to critical infrastructure impacting events such as floods, fires and blizzards, the Public Works Team is ready to go. It’s not glamorous, and it’s definitely most often dirty work, but its importance cannot be denied.