Future development in Falcon requires closing a lane of busy Meridian Road for several weeks
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — To truly understand how quickly this community northeast of Colorado Springs is growing, you need only drive south on Meridian Road between Bent Grass Meadows Drive and Eastonville Road.
The entire west side of that stretch is under construction — or soon will be.
Future development requires closing the right lane of the affected segment of Meridian for several weeks.
The first closure, in which crews are performing concrete and asphalt work on Owl Place between Meridian and the new Meridian Park Drive, began Wednesday and should be finished next week.
Meridian Park Drive is so new, however, that it doesn’t appear yet on most maps because it’s still being built.
On Monday, the same closure will continue until early April for a project to install a wastewater line on the north side of the construction zone, between Owl Place and Bent Grass.
Al Watson, a representative for the developer of the property, said that four new businesses — including two restaurants — are coming to the area.
Owl Place was formerly an unpaved road between Meridian to the east and several homes to the west, but development is changing the landscape and the infrastructure required.
Watson said that the current project required eliminating a left-turn lane on northbound Meridian at Owl Place to prevent drivers from crossing heavy southbound traffic.
Likewise, the crew is creating a right-turn-only lane into Owl Place on southbound Meridian.
“It’s because the county doesn’t want a lot of traffic trying to merge on and off Meridian at the same spot,” Watson explained. “So drivers won’t be able to turn right coming out onto Meridian.”
To enter the new development, drivers will have to turn west onto Eastonville Road, a major intersection where a roundabout was recently built for access to several new businesses, including a King Soopers.
The roundabout also connects to the future Meridian Park Drive, serving as the key access point for customers of the new businesses.
In the past year, KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior has reported on several infrastructure projects in that general area: A water line installation, left-turn upgrades on Meridian at the entrances to Walmart and McDonald’s, and a road reconstruction behind the Walmart.
What used to be considerable open space between Falcon and Colorado Springs is fast disappearing.
Gary Miller said that he and his wife are one of 13 of the original homeowners at the west end of Owl Place, and he reflects on the changes.
“It’s inevitable,” he said. “We can understand. We take it well. That’s how it evolves. But we’re not staying. We’re moving to northern Colorado to be with our grandkids.”