East Boulder Street in downtown Colorado Springs to partially close for over 2 years
Mackenzie Stafford
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A busy road in downtown Colorado Springs is set to close down for over two years starting in less than two weeks.
East Boulder Street will be closed for the Palmer High School renovation from Weber to Nevada. The developers say the 2-and-a-half year closure is temporary, but they do plan to request a permanent closure from the city.
Come June 3, drivers who typically pass through East Boulder Street will have to find a new route to get from North Nevada Avenue to North Weber Street.
After June 3, the block will gradually begin filling up with construction equipment and materials.
“For the safety of both students and staff, because we have over 1200 students on site,” Doug Abernethy with RTA Architects explained. “We really need to close Boulder Street in order to allow construction to occur, because we have a 3 to 4-story academic wing. It requires quite a bit of space for a crane in the construction. So Boulder’s got to be closed to accommodate students and staff, but also the construction workers and actually the logistics of building the building.”
Abernethy says the school will shift student pick-up and drop-off to North Nevada Avenue.
Another area that will be slimming down is North Weber Street.
“There are going to be some temporary construction barricades that will reduce this. It’ll be one lane in each direction, but then there won’t be that center median,” said Tony Cingoranelli with Adolfson and Peterson Construction.
Abernethy further explained that the bike lane and parking on the west side of North Weber Street will be shifted over in order to accommodate the construction. That area is slated to be closed through July 20, 2026.
The closures raise some concerns for business owners further along East Boulder Street.
“That’s going to hugely affect our business, because it is a major fanfare. This is one of the largest crossings to downtown. That’s part of the reason we signed here was because we do have this incoming traffic,” explained Claire Schroder, an owner of Toodles Tearoom.
The owner of Toodles Tearoom on Boulder Street also points to other businesses trying to open up shop in the area. She explained how some buildings nearby are trying to fill in spots for new shops downtown.
“With that road closed, that’s a major issue for them, I’m sure not only for construction, but then if they have a launch and there’s no access to it, that’s going to be a massive problem,” Schroder shared.
The city says the district and developers will have to reapply for the construction permit every 90 days.
Colorado Springs School District 11 plans to apply for the permanent closure of East Boulder Street in the next two months.
“As we’re working through this first phase of construction, there’s an extensive engagement process that will continue to occur to consider the closure of Boulder,” Abernathy said. “And so we have to apply to the planning department, and then ultimately that needs approval by the city council. That will run in parallel with the first phase of construction.”
In the meantime, drivers will have to reroute. District 11 provided this map of potential alternative routes:
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