Midland Trail pedestrian bridge in southwest Colorado Springs removed overnight
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A familiar sight across Fountain Creek at the north end of 8th Street has passed into history, at least for the present.
Early Friday morning, crews removed the Midland Trail pedestrian bridge on the east side of the street, near the US 24 Frontage Road.
Workers used power saws to dismantle the bridge, piece by piece, and the job was done well before the project’s scheduled completion time of 5 a.m.
The removal officially began at 8 p.m. Thursday as crews prepared the site for removal.
It’s the latest step in the first phase of a yearlong $12 million improvement project on 8th Street between the Frontage Road and Motor City Drive.
The project began on Monday, with crews closing the right northbound turn lane to the Frontage Road.
Drivers can still turn right there, past a pedestrian median to the left lane of the road.
Next is maintenance work on and widening of the 74-year-old bridge to extend its use by another 30 years; the construction of a multi-use path (wider sidewalk) to serve as a new connection to the trail; and creating a second northbound traffic lane to ease congestion at the Frontage Road intersection.
Bridge work will continue into early next year; the project’s second phase of replacing a water main starts this winter; and the final phase of repaving will occur late next spring or early next summer.
Other improvements include drainage upgrades that will reduce flash flooding; building sidewalks and curbs in areas that currently don’t have them; and installing new traffic signals.
Nearby business owners are watching the traffic impacts closely; a manager at the Arby’s restaurant near the bridge told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior on Thursday that business has declined since the project began.
Gene Burrows, who describes himself as homeless, said that he likes the upcoming improvements even though many people are avoiding the detour by traveling through the construction zone.
“There are hundreds of people who go through here who are disabled and go back and forth to the city, off the trails — and we need to be more assertive about them not using this entryway right now,” he explained. “It causes a big question mark.”
City officials said that the Midland bridge opened in 2005 and will be reassembled as part of a future parks project.