Neighbors, drivers frustrated by series of projects along Galley Road in east Colorado Springs
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Numerous citizens have asked when projects on Galley Road, one of which started early last year, will end the road closures and detours they’ve endured.
Galley cuts through several neighborhoods and is a convenient east-west route for drivers between Academy and Powers boulevards, but citizens have been frustrated by the impacts from three infrastructure projects.
The latest started Monday and was expected to continue through Thursday at the intersection of Galley and Potter Drive, where Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) is repairing a faulty valve on a 24-inch water main.
CSU initially said that the intersection would be closed, but daytime eastbound traffic was open on Monday, and it appeared that one lane in each direction was open overnight.
However, crews repaved the area late Tuesday morning, and CSU said that the intersection would fully reopen on Wednesday morning.
The utility is also replacing an old water main on Galley between the west fork of Sand Creek bridge and Powers Boulevard.
It’s a three-phase project that began early last summer, and crews have finished the first two phases to bring the new main to Space Center Drive; CSU hasn’t finalized when the final phase across Powers will start.
But the project that is most frustrating to many citizens is the demolition and replacement of the 60-year-old creek bridge, which has closed several blocks of Galley in both directions.
Crews made significant progress earlier this summer when they finally tore down the old bridge.
However, the project has been delayed — first, by the late arrival of some construction materials in the beginning, and then by challenges in relocating utility lines.
Citizens complaining about the project may also be unaware of the weather slowing progress.
As one construction worker told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior on Monday: “Every time we get ready to pour concrete, we get a rainstorm that floods the creek and bursts the dams that we build to control the flow. We end up having to start over.”
But crews are hoping for a period of dry weather to meet their goal of finishing the project this fall.
Many citizens hope that Galley will be repaved after all utility projects are completed, although this will likely result in additional traffic impacts.
City and CSU officials have said that they understand the public’s frustration with the length of the projects, but are trying to complete them as soon as they can.
A local church found a creative way to grin and beat the construction.