Signal upgrades at two Garden of the Gods Road intersections in Colorado Springs taking longer to complete than expected
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A traffic signal project that began just before Thanksgiving was supposed to be finished by New Year’s Day, then by the end of January.
Many viewers have asked why work to upgrade signals on Garden of the Gods Road, at the Northpark Drive and Mark Dabling Boulevard intersections, isn’t done yet.
Winter weather is often to blame for construction delays, but we’ve had less snow and ice than usual.
Todd Frisbie, the city’s head traffic engineer, said that the reason for the project’s delay is common — crews digging underground and finding things they didn’t expect.
“As you get into it, it becomes more complicated,” he explained. “There are always things that you can’t anticipate. Utilities are marked and located, but they’re sometimes not in the exact place.”
Frisbie said that daily, crews have to carefully move existing underground utility lines to make room for the new signal infrastructure and avoid damaging the utility lines.
The new signals currently hang on wires, but will be placed on overhead masts that are supported by new bases called caissons.
“These caissons are anywhere from 18 to 21 feet deep, plus 36 to 42 inches in diameter,” he said. “So, it’s a big space, and you need a big area to get these in.”
One traffic lane in each direction is closed during construction, which Frisbie said should now be finished before the end of next March.
The Colorado Department of Transportation is covering most of the project’s nearly $2 million cost.
Meanwhile, more lane closures are required around the intersection of Circle Drive and Constitution Avenue, where crews will fill some concrete boring holes that were made during a recent fiber optic cable installation.
Those closures began on Wednesday evening and should end by mid-afternoon on Friday; the entrance to the Rock Island Trail in that area also will be closed during that time.