Busy 2026 road construction season for Cañon City; two projects on 9th street and pesky gas line relocation
Scott Harrison
CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) — This marks the third consecutive year that Cañon City will have a major, impactful road-related construction project.
And there will be three of them — two on the same street, and a third that crews have had difficulty completing since it began in late 2024.
Currently underway are twin projects on two miles of 9th Street, between downtown and the town’s northern boundary.
On the south end, crews began preparing last fall to replace a water main and then repave the street afterwards.
The staff of a nearby convenience store said that it now closes two hours earlier due to a lack of customers.
Meanwhile, on the north end, crews are widening the street, adding curbs and sidewalks, and then repaving it.
The north end construction has 9th Street closed between Raintree Boulevard and Washington Street, but that work should be finished in another month or so.
The south end project currently has 9th Street closed between Floral and Allison avenues, with closures gradually advancing north, and work is expected to be completed this fall.
Rochelle Whitney is upset because she said that a month ago, water from a pipe in the construction zone flooded the yard and crawl space of her late mother’s home — causing at least $60,000 in damage.
“And we are definitely fired up, but I’m also trying to be professional and respectful of the fact that I know accidents happen, and things do occur,” she said. “But I also know that we need to be reimbursed and made whole for the damage that happened at our property.”
Now, for the project that won’t go away.
Later this summer, a crew will try — for what’s believed to be the fourth time — to relocate a natural gas line on East Main Street, between Raynolds Avenue and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
The challenge has been inserting the steel pipe under the tracks and a city water main.
On one attempt, the pipe broke, and the second try resulted in damage to the water main that wasn’t repaired until earlier this year.
Leo Evans, the town’s public works director, said that the contractor is applying for a permit from the railroad and has changed the design for the gas line installation.
Previous closures there have closed the East Main/Raynolds intersection — affecting several businesses, some homes, and traffic between the construction and US 50.
The project has also delayed a city stormwater line installation in the same area; Evans said that crews will start on it next winter, after the gas line is relocated and water flowing through a local irrigation channel is turned off for the season.
Dakota Johnson lives near the 9th Street construction and said that his street is not as quiet as it usually is because of detouring traffic.
“I feel like they’re doing too many projects at the same time,” he said.