Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Some areas of the city have needed repaving or other infrastructure repairs more than others.
This season, it’s the southwest side’s turn.
So many projects are in such proximity to each other that the detour around one may bring drivers within just a few blocks of another.
Generally, traffic congestion and detours have greater impacts during the day, particularly at the morning and evening rush hours.
One street that has been transformed by construction is Arcturus Drive, a two-block street with moderate daytime traffic between 8th Street and the Lower Skyway neighborhood.
Concrete work there has, at times, closed one of the four lanes of traffic, and occasionally backs up traffic on the entire length of the street.
That project, however, is winding down a month after it began; adding to the project’s length was the pouring of concrete for new driveway entrances at a shopping center, two housing units, and a convenience store.
Some drivers cut through the parking lot, seeking a shortcut around the congestion.
Several blocks to the south, another project is wrapping up: Maintenance work on the Cheyenne Road bridge over Cheyenne Creek; Cheyenne Road and adjacent Cheyenne Boulevard will be repaved this summer after the completion of concrete work and a natural gas line replacement last year.
One of the more impressive projects, in terms of scope, is the current concrete work on East Cheyenne Road, between Southgate Road and Lake Avenue; it has required lane shifts and closed several neighborhood intersections.
“We still have more to do,” one worker told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior. “When we finish here, we’ll be doing a lot of Circle Drive, from Fillmore Street to Fountain Boulevard.”
Also on the southwest side are several projects that The Road Warrior has already covered, being performed by the city or the Colorado Department of Transportation: Street paving in the Broadmoor Bluffs neighborhood, concrete work and repaving on South Nevada Avenue between Motor Way and Fort Carson’s main gate, and concrete work at the intersection of Cheyenne Boulevard and Lorraine Street.
Some of the construction also makes travel more challenging for pedestrians and cyclists, as sidewalks and bike lanes are often closed.
Amid public frustration with cone zones, drivers should remember that construction crews have a job to do, and the result will be smoother and safer driving.
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