Rain produces mixed impacts on two paving projects near Colorado Springs
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Rain apparently didn’t put a damper on the start of a repaving project that will affect traffic going to and from the Colorado Springs Airport.
Paving was scheduled to start Sunday evening and wrap up at 5 a.m. Monday morning at the intersection of Powers Boulevard and Milton E. Proby Parkway.
The latter is the main route to the airport.
Most paving or other road-related projects come with the disclaimer “weather permitting,” but it appears that Sunday’s rain ended soon enough for crews to proceed.
“We were only an hour late getting started,” said Scott Schnake, a Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project engineer. “A little bit of moisture is OK, but too much starts to cause problems. We don’t want the new pavement to delaminate on top of the old pavement. We want it to bond nicely to the existing asphalt, and not separate from the existing asphalt.”
Schnake said that crews didn’t mill (remove) all old pavement — just 2.5 inches.
A separate project by airport officials is repaving Milton E. Proby Parkway east of the Powers intersection.
The CDOT project is scheduled to continue overnights this week through Thursday.
The above map provided by CDOT shows the closures and detours in place.
Drivers must use Grinnell Boulevard and Integration Loop as detours east of Powers; west of Powers, the detours are Hancock, Milton E. Proby, Chelton Road, and Bradley Road.
With a wet week of weather expected, paving could take longer to finish.
Meanwhile, the weekend rain did delay a project we told you about last week.
Crews were to pave a very muddy mile-long road — Glider Loop — just south of Black Forest, along Vollmer Road.
We know only that the new date is sometime this week.
KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior will keep you updated.