CDOT winding down $11 million project to repave ten miles of US 24 east of Colorado Springs
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is a month away from the scheduled completion of a repaving of US 24 that began in April.
Crews are placing new asphalt from just east of Peyton to just east of Calhan; it follows similar paving last summer farther west between Peyton and Falcon.
Another facet of the work is the construction of a passing lane at the east end of the project, near the intersection with Harrisville Road.
The paving has occurred at night to limit traffic impacts during the summer tourist season.
Several drivers told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior that they’re happy to see the repaving, after years of asking CDOT to do more to improve safety on the busy highway.
Over the past decade, crews have added turn, merge, and passing lanes along the affected stretch of US 24.
Along with repaving through Calhan, the town has seen other recent improvements: Last summer, El Paso County performed a much-needed repaving of the road leading to the county fairgrounds off US 24 (Yoder Street), and CDOT repaired the main bridge through town.
The upgrades have drivers in neighboring Lincoln County hoping that CDOT will eventually bring the improvements farther east.
Drivers should be aware of crews still working on paved areas to smooth bumps that often form.
“There will be some slight bumps, just inherent with the paving,” said Wayne Pittman, a CDOT engineer. “So, the contractor will come through and diamond-grind. It’s not the milling machine with the big teeth. It’s a much finer tooth, to just take out those little bumps.”
Pittman also said that some of the old asphalt millings will be spread over Fairplay Road — a short, dead-end, dirt road along the highway.
“That was an agreement with the county because there’s a special needs child who lives down that road, and emergency vehicles have been stuck in the mud there,” he explained.
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