Repairs nearly complete on troubled drainage ditch in Cimarron Hills area of El Paso County
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — It looks so great now, that it almost shines, even at night.
For the first time in decades, a block-long drainage ditch just east of the Powers Boulevard/Galley Road intersection isn’t an eyesore choked with broken concrete, weeds, trash and debris.
Last month, KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior showed how a county crew began cleaning up the ditch and applying a new concrete layer; the 500-foot channel starts at the intersection of Ford Street and Seneca Road, and continues west to Valley street.
A county official said on Thursday that the project requires some finishing touches before it’s finished in a few weeks.
The project is a relief to adjacent business owners who coped with flooding and erosion damage because of the clogged ditch.
Repairing the channel took so long because local governments couldn’t agree on who had jurisdiction; it wasn’t until 2024 that the county took responsibility for maintenance.
The county also is considering plans to improve drainage from Seneca neighborhood by replacing a failing underground metal drainage pipe under Ford that empties into the channel.
Officials said that the previous concrete liner failed because it wasn’t properly reinforced; the new liner is, and has an increased capacity to contain heavier flows.
Some neighbors hope for similar repairs at the west end of the channel, past Valley, where that concrete liner is deteriorating.
Drainage in that channel flows into an unlined segment full of trees and rocks, before entering a newer, more extensive stormwater channel along Paonia Street.