Up until last week, it seemed that beyond the normal challenges of congestion at the airport industrial park, motorists were faced with a simpler obstruction: weeds.
Glenn Hendricks, an environmental health and safety manager at Goodrich, had sent a letter to the Pueblo County administrator's office complaining that the shrubbery at the intersection of William White and Paul Harvey boulevards was obstructing vision to the point that it had become dangerous.
"There were several accidents in that area," he said. " I saw three or four accidents or near-misses myself."
The intersection is actually maintained by the City of Pueblo, part of a confusing combination of city and county authority over roads in the area, that both entities hope to clarify soon.
City Traffic Engineer Dan Centa said the shrubbery in question was trimmed and cleared by airport maintenance staff shortly after the problem was discovered.
But the incident, however minor, is a reminder to Hendricks and others who work in the area that the busy intersection needs more improvements.
"I think one of the problems is that it's an uncontrolled intersection," Hendricks said.
He added that during a shift change traffic congestion can be a serious problem.
The county is spending nearly $3 million to extend William White Boulevard to Colorado 47 in Belmont to allow for another entrance to the industrial park and has applied for federal funding to improve circulation patterns through the park.
As it turns out, the city is currently responsible for the William White-Paul Harvey intersection and portions of the federal funding the county wants will go towar,d installing a new signal there.
The city and county are working on an intergovernmental agreement to transfer most of the road maintenance responsibilities to the county, though the William White-Paul Harvey intersection will likely remain under the city's jurisdiction, said Loretta Kennedy, Pueblo County District 2 commissioner.
The agreement has economic significance since Bechtel and the U.S. Department of Defense continue to move forward with plans to destroy hazardous munitions at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.
But with as many as 1,300 new jobs, the depot project will only add to traffic, especially when a new entrance is built connecting the military base with the Department of Transportation road at the industrial park's east end.
Kennedy said simple road maintenance at the airport is an important part of marketing the area to other potential businesses, and the new agreement between the city and county could go a long way toward keeping those roads up to snuff.
"It really enhances and improves the economic development opportunities there because we really need to make sure the roads are maintained," she said. "When you look at a work force of 7,000 people, enhancing the safety and viability of the whole roadway is important."