Two of the season’s bigger 2C paving-related projects underway in Colorado Springs
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — After a year of preparations, neighbors along two parallel southwest side streets are finally seeing repaving work happen.
As part of the city’s 2C expanded street paving program, crews are laying fresh asphalt this week on a 1.5-mile stretch of Cheyenne Boulevard, between Cresta Road and the roundabout at the intersection of Cascade Avenue, Ramona Avenue, and Tejon Street.
When that project is finished, workers will move a block south to a similar segment of Cheyenne Road between Cresta and Nevada Avenue.
Preparations began last year with the replacement of two aging natural gas lines on Cheyenne Boulevard, which had significant traffic impacts in the neighborhood.
“I don’t mind it,” said Bradley Martin, a neighbor. “I know it’s taken a lot out of people’s day, blocking the road and things like that. But I don’t mind it at all. They’ve got to get it done. Those guys work hard out there, so…”
Preliminary work on Cheyenne Road included drainage improvements and the installation of sidewalks that were requested by new residents of the older area near The Broadmoor.
Meanwhile, a longer concrete project to prepare for future repaving is underway on 2.5 miles of Circle Drive, in the heart of the city, between Fillmore Street and Galley Road.
That work requires the replacement of many sidewalks and driveway entrances in front of homes.
Around half of the revenue from the 2C’s voter-approved sales tax increase pays for repairing or replacing curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and ramps that are cracked, broken, or don’t meet federal standards for the disabled.
City officials have said that such concrete work protects the integrity of the new asphalt so that it lasts longer; it’s the kind of planning and foresight that the American Society of Civil Engineers recommends for cities and counties after the state earlier this week received a D+ grade for overall road quality.
“It does make sense,” said neighbor Jennifer Hoppe. “I guess it’s hard for me to understand whether the curb is bad or not, because sometimes it doesn’t appear to have any breaks, and they still have to replace it.”
The city has stepped up improvements to ramps after settling two federal lawsuits in 2018 and 2019, claiming that previous ramps didn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Each ramp costs around $4,000.
The contractor for the Circle project recently finished 1.5 miles of concrete work on East Cheyenne Road, between Southgate Road and Lake Avenue.