Scott Harrison
WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) — A project on Highway 67 that KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior covered when it began in mid-March is now approximately halfway finished.
The traffic and safety improvement project on the north side of the City Above the Clouds has transformed a half-mile between Kelly’s Road and the intersection of County Road and Evergreen Heights Drive.
It’s a $7 million project by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) that was postponed last year when initial bids from contractors came in significantly higher than expected.
Crews have ripped out old, surface drainage culverts on both sides of the inclined highway segment that were seriously eroding and posed a threat to the highway itself and adjacent private property.
That aging infrastructure is gradually being replaced with underground concrete culverts that will convey drainage into an existing storm sewer.
Crews have shifted traffic slightly north on the highway, erected barriers along the old southbound lane, and created a temporary northbound lane through the work zone.
Flaggers direct traffic through alternating lane closures as the summer travel season continues.
In addition to the drainage improvements, crews will widen the affected segment to four lanes to make it consistent wth the existing ends of the highway; Woodland Park widened a small section north of the project area last year.
Many people are surprised at the scope of the project, the additional traffic congestion it creates, and the difficulty of getting in and out of nearby homes and businesses.
Jessica Lumbard, an employee at the Mountain Naturals Community Market, estimates that the store has lost a third of its sales during its busiest season of the year.
“I don’t like it. It’s been hurting us,” she said. “I feel like once it’s done, it will improve the flow of traffic. It might be a slow summer, but we’ve survived this long, so I think we’ll do fine.”
Dennis LaBlue has lived in Woodland Park for a year and his home faces the construction zone.
“I think it’s all unnecessary,” he said. “This is a mountain town. We don’t need all of this construction. My wife did say that it seems like it’ll help with turn lanes going up around the motor vehicle area, around where the police station is, all the housing going up back in there. It just bothers me how many trees they took out.”
In March, The Road Warrior spoke on the phone with the owner of the Diamond Campground, who said at the time that her biggest concern was summer visitors being scared away by construction.
However, that fear apparently hasn’t been realized, according to the campground staff.
“The workers have been very helpful in keeping our entrance from being blocked,” one staffer said on Wednesday. “I haven’t noticed any drop in campground visitors so far.”
The project is one of three affecting the Ute Pass area through western El Paso County and much of Teller County; a rock mitigation project continued Thursday on US 24 between Manitou Springs and Cascade, and paving started this week on US 24 near Divide.
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