Cañon City water main relocation project pauses for summer after three unsuccessful attempts
Scott Harrison
CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) — The east end of East Main Street is clear of construction machinery and “Road Closed” signs for the first time since a project to relocate a natural gas line started late last year.
Unfortunately for neighbors and traffic, that doesn’t mean the project is finished.
Crews reopened the affected stretch last week after failing three times to relocate the eight-inch gas pipeline owned by Atmos Energy; Miller Pipeline is the contractor for the project.
Obstacles have included striking an underground water main and being unable to insert the pipe 20 feet under a Union Pacific Railroad track, as well as the location of a future stormwater channel for the town.
“We’ll be back working with the gas company later this year to figure out when they’ll get their relocation in,” said Leo Evans, the town’s public works director. “And then, we have to do our storm sewer work yet this fall, in November. So, (East Main Street) will be reopened for a good couple of months.”
Contributing to the delay is that irrigation water is flowing through a channel in the area and won’t be shut off until harvest season this fall, as crews try to figure out another strategy.
It means that closed streets, traffic detours, and disruptions to around a dozen homes and several businesses will return — and no one knows for how long.
The manager of a nearby convenience store said that her business was down 25% during construction, and the manager of a dry cleaning business next door said that business was down 80%.
KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior will continue to follow the progress of this project.