Drivers cope with traffic impacts from drainage project at entrance to popular Colorado Springs park
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — This should be the third and final week of a drainage project that has restricted traffic flow at the lone entrance to Rampart Park, on the city’s northeast side.
That will please many drivers who have had challenges navigating the narrow road with only one lane open during the project.
The second lane nearest the construction is closed to make room for construction equipment and ensure safety for workers.
Drivers at the bottom of the road to a popular dog park must travel 300 feet uphill to exit onto busy Lexington Drive, but they must also yield to oncoming traffic trying to avoid congestion at the entrance.
“When it first started, I didn’t think it was going to impact me,” said Jules Thompson. “But now that it has dragged on, there have been a few days that it has deterred me from coming here — because it’s getting a little dangerous.”
Other drivers express similar concerns and frustrations.
“When I came in, I actually had to veer off, like in the construction zone, because there was a car coming toward me, and I had no idea,” said Carrie Criswell. “So, a construction guy kinda let that guy pass and stopped the other folks coming.”
For Bill Moyer, handling his two dogs on a busy day at the park was more of a handful than the traffic impacts.
I don’t encounter cars too often,” he said. ” But one time, I did have to pull over between the barricades to let someone pass.”
Those drivers revealed that they were unaware of the reason for the project causing the traffic changes.
As KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior explained when construction began two weeks ago, workers are replacing an above-ground drainage channel between a sloped buffer zone and a retaining wall under a new housing development.
A heavy rainstorm last summer eroded part of the wall and damaged some of the plastic turf lining the concrete ditch.
Corey Rivera, the project manager, said that the ditch has existed for five years.
“At one point, we took out the concrete because it was old and had some bad spots. That’s why we went with this turf style, to try out a new technique, give it a natural look without going full native on there. This was one of the first test sites that we had.”
The crew assigned to the project has installed a 300-foot plastic pipe that will run the length of the retaining wall, attach to the stormwater outlet, and be buried underground.
Good weather has allowed the crew to make good progress.