Construction gears up on South Academy Boulevard upgrades in Colorado Springs
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — While El Paso County is wrapping up its improvements on South Academy Boulevard between Interstate 25 and Milton E. Proby Parkway, a similar project is intensifying on the city’s side of the corridor between the parkway and Fountain Boulevard.
The city’s project resumed last month after a year-long break to focus on reducing impacts to drivers, neighbors, and business owners.
Crews are making upgrades to driver safety, traffic flow, pedestrian access, and drainage; much of the infrastructure here dates back to the 1960s.
The latest changes came this week, as crews made lane closures to prepare for a traffic configuration change.
That work included removing old lane markings and applying temporary striping.
But what’s really eye-catching are the long trenches the crews are digging in the street, mostly on the east side of Academy.
That’s where new drainage pipes are going in.
This phase of the project also has the eastbound ramp to Milton E. Proby Parkway closed until the end of May.
The final step will be repaving this stretch, known by drivers to be one of the bumpiest in town.
Officials originally planned to finish the project this summer, but the new completion date is the summer of 2028.
“I have mixed feelings about it,” said David Aquino, who lives nearby. “It should be OK, but in the mornings it’s kinda hard driving down south or up north, because you have one lane, two lanes open only.”
Shawn Visiko is another neighbor.
“I don’t like it, per se,” he said of the project. “But it does need to be done because of how bad the roads are. And now, hopefully, in the near future, it’ll be done, and it’ll be smooth.”
This project, and the previous work done on South Academy between Bijou Street and Airport Road, cost $100 million.
It’s financed by sales tax revenue from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) and some federal funds.