Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Major construction work on 8th Street that The Road Warrior first reported on last month began Monday morning.
The affected area is roughly a half-mile stretch between the US 24 Frontage Road and Motor City Drive, on the city’s southwest side.
However, the first of the project’s three phases will focus on the Fontage Road and the bridge over Fountain Creek.
According to a city release last week, both eastbound lanes of the Frontage Road will close, and northbound 8th Street drivers wanting to travel east on US 24 (Cimarron Street) will have to turn right at that intersection; it’s the previous route used by drivers before the Frontage Road was built several years ago.
But when the closure started at 9:30 a.m., a worker placing construction cones and barriers said that only part of the right lane of the Frontage Road was closed; The Road Warrior is waiting on a response for clarification from the city.
Drivers were allowed to turn right off 8th Street onto the left Frontage Road lane; predictably, traffic consistently backed up as far south as Lower Gold Camp Road.
Melissa Brocato, a taxi driver from Teller County, said that she noticed the long traffic line but was heading into it.
“My cab gets dirty a lot, and I have a membership at the Take Five car wash down the street,” she explained. “I was having second thoughts today, but I’ve got to keep my cab clean. I have to go through it.”
Also closing Monday were the Midland Trail bridge and the sidewalk on the east side of the Fountain Creek bridge on 8th Street; pedestrians and trail users will have to use the west sidewalk to cross the Fountain Creek bridge and connect to the trail.
The closures are part of the preparation for removing the east side trail bridge and sidewalk, and replacing them with a multi-use path or wider sidewalk; crews will also widen and perform maintenance on the Fountain Creek bridge.
“I think it’s needed because the bikes are getting a little ridiculous on the sidewalk,” said Brian Lynch, who was walking in the area Monday. “It’s not in everybody’s best interest to have to pivot around the bikes. It’ll also be disruptive to the homeless people who live under that bridge.”
Officials said that the creek bridge was built in 1951, and the maintenance work will extend its use for another 30 years.
A key component of the project is to add a second northbound lane for through traffic across the bridge; currently, the right lane becomes the turn lane for the Frontage Road, and traffic backs up during peak periods.
“This structure itself is in the top 10% of the most-traveled bridges within the city,” said Ryan Phipps, the city’s capital improvements manager. “So, this bridge sees a lot of traffic. And really, the emphasis is on modernization and safety.”
Officials said that except for the eastbound turn lane onto the Frontage Road, all other traffic lanes will remain open, although drivers should be prepared for occasional lane shifts and closures.
Access to the many local businesses will also remain open, but merchants and their customers are waiting to see what the impacts will be.
“They’re going to block the street, so it’s going to be harder for the customers to come and eat here,” said Leo Martinez, a manager at La Casita restaurant. “Customers who are going to try and come over here, maybe they have to go around, or maybe they’re going to change their minds.”
Lisa Cisneros, a regular customer at La Casita, said that she’s grown used to the various construction projects every summer.
“If there’s a way to get in, we’ll come,” she said. “But if it seems impossible on that day, we’ll skip it. We’ll try not to let the construction affect us. We like eating here. We’ll be back.”
The project’s first phase continues into early next year. A more disruptive phase may be the replacement of a water main on 8th Street between Cimarron Street and Bear Creek.
“It’s 60 years old, Phipps explained. “This project will be upgrading and modernizing that water main. We will also be installing storm drains down towards Lower Gold Camp and Bear Creek, like in that section where that particular part of the street experiences some flooding currently.”
He’s referring to Lower Gold Camp Road and Moreno Avenue, hilly streets west of 8th Street that currently have no storm drains, and sediment-filled runoff often floods the southbound lanes of 8th Street during heavy rainstorms.
That phase will happen through this winter, Phipps said.
Other improvements include installing sidewalks and curbs where none presently exist, and installing new traffic signals.
Repaving — the final phase — will occur late next spring or early next summer.
The 8th Street project costs $12 million and is funded primarily by revenue from a one-cent sales tax from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.
For more information, visit: https://coloradosprings.gov/8thStreet.
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