Progress continues on Twin Bridges Road, train crossing project in Colorado Springs
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Crews are three months into a $12.7 million project to eventually close a railroad crossing at the intersection of Las Vegas and Royer streets and replace it with an access road and a new crossing.
KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior first reported on the plan in late August.
Crews are building a new road — to be called Twin Bridges Road — under the MLK Bypass that will connect Las Vegas to the existing traffic signals on Hancock Expressway at their nearest point, believed to be less than 1,000 feet.
The new train crossing will be installed on that road and will accommodate vehicles and pedestrians.
Signals at the Hancock intersection, which is near the Leon Young Service Center for Colorado Springs Utilities, will be upgraded to fit the new traffic configuration.
The Las Vegas/Royer crossing will close after construction of the new road and crossing is finished, and Royer above the crossing will become a cul-de-sac.
Officials are closing the crossing for safety reasons; it’s on a hill that occasionally causes trucks, trailers, and other vehicles to become “low-centered” and stuck.
There have been 25 non-fatal train/vehicle crashes at the crossing since 1975, officials said.
Eric Wyatt owns several businesses along Las Vegas near the existing crossing.
“Yeah, I like it,” he said. “I mean, it’s needed. They were gonna have to do two different types of ways if they wanted to keep going through here. Raise the whole road — which then would mess up everybody else around on that side.”
Wyatt said that the city considered acquiring his property when he first learned of the plan ten years ago.
“They were moving that direction because they didn’t want to spend the money it was going to cost to go down the road and do what they’re doing now,” he explained. But for me, being here so long and owning this around here, that’s the right move.”
Drivers will likely consider the new crossing a long detour from the existing crossing, but the new Hancock intersection will provide close access to major streets such as Union Boulevard and Circle Drive.
The project is scheduled for completion next fall and is funded by sales tax revenue from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.
According to officials, the tracks in that area are owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, but are operated by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
El Paso County, the Colorado Department of Transportation, and the Fountain Valley Mutual Irrigation Company are stakeholders in the project.