Year-long project starts today on Beacon Lite Road in Monument area
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Fall may seem to be too late in the year to start a road project, but good weather is providing crews with an opportunity to begin preliminary work on a road north of Monument, between Interstate 25 and Palmer Lake.
The county has various improvements planned for Beacon Lite Road, covering two-thirds of a mile between Wakonda Way — where the paved section of Beacon Lite ends — to Bricker Road.
That stretch is hilly, winding, and fairly narrow, with several bends, bumpy road conditions, steep banks, and issues with erosion and drainage.
A key facet of the project is building a new road segment on the south end to straighten out the sharpest of several road bends.
Other early project aspects include cutting down some roadside trees to relocate utility lines and install stormwater infrastructure.
The latter improvement is what neighbor Zach Sullivan is particularly interested in, because of damage to his yard from previous erosion and flooding.
“It’s better for the community, so to speak, but I just think it’s going to make people drive a little faster,” he said. “I would hope they’d put in a maybe stop sign, or something, to slow people down. They already drive fast on a dirt road. So, if they pave it, I think it’s just going to increase speeds.”
Another neighbor, Jan Talbot, believes that the project’s benefits outweigh any inconveniences.
“I’m not looking forward to the process, just because it’ll be a mess,” she confessed. “But that’s just me. It’s going to be dusty; it’ll be dirtier than even it is now. But once the road is paved, it’ll be less dusty and safer to drive on.”
Several neighbors told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior that the county acquired or obtained easements on some private property as part of the project.
The project’s final step will be paving the gravel road with asphalt sometime next spring or summer.
Residents along Bricker Road will be watching the project’s progress closely.
“We have around 20 homes there,” a neighbor told The Road Warrior. “The Beacon Lite intersection is our only way in and out.”
Work hours for the project will generally be weekdays from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.; the county asks drivers to be alert for occasional lane shifts and the presence of construction vehicles.
Some neighbors wonder why the county isn’t continuing the project a third of a mile farther north, to where Beacon Lite ends at County Line Road.
Omar Lopez, the project manager, said that the entire unpaved segment was originally scheduled to start a year or two ago, but that it has taken the county longer than expected to reach agreements with property owners regarding acquisition or easements.
“I think there were 30 total parcels we needed to obtain and only two remain,” he explained. “Both are in that northern end between Bricker and County Line. Douglas County has conservation easements along the County Line. We’re trying to work through that because there are other things involved.”
The project costs $8.2 million and is funded by sales tax revenue from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.