Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Drivers were either curious about them or hated them; the metal barriers that closed the westbound right lane of busy Austin Bluffs Parkway between Union Boulevard and Goldenrod Drive.
Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) installed them last August to protect workers and traffic during a project to relocate a nearby, above-ground natural gas line.
But last Thursday, crews removed the barriers and reopened the lane of traffic.
KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior spoke with drivers who shared their impressions of the barriers.
“I think they were a good precaution for all the construction workers out there, but they were there for quite a while — kind of a nuisance while they were there — but it’s nice that they’re gone now, though,” said David Savage.
Debbie Steagall said that she once came close to crashing into the barriers on the winding, downhill section of Austin Bluffs where traffic often travels above the speed limit.
“I didn’t have my glasses on and I didn’t realize that my perception was off,” she explained. “And it was wet outside. So, it was very dangerous for me.”
Alex Trefry, a CSU spokesman, explained why the utility used metal barriers instead of concrete barriers that are more familiar and commonly used at construction sites.
“What made (that) project unique was that it needed 3,100 linear feet of barriers, which we don’t own,” he said of the barriers rented by CSU. “We went with metal because of the flexibility it (gave) us and the ease of assembly and disassembly. Cost and safety (for both metal and concrete barriers) are pretty much the same.”
The metal barriers are lighter and fit together like pieces of a Legos set; each barrier was attached to another, and to the pavement.
On Thursday, a crew collected the barriers in a one-day operation; one crew used a small crane to disassemble them while another crane lifted them into waiting truck trailers and several workers guided the barriers into place.
The final step was to send a street sweeper to clean accumulated debris under the barriers.
Trefry said that they may return in a few months.
“We will be back in the area, in August of 2025, tentatively right now, to do some more relocation work,” he said. “Not for gas mains but for our other service lines like water, wastewater, fiber.”
That work is connected to a project to build the Central Bluffs power station, at the corner of Austin Bluffs and Goldenrod; the utility has demolished most of the vacant office buildings and homes that were acquired for construction.
That project is scheduled for completion in November 2026.
The unexpected discovery of a fiber optics cable delayed the gas line project for four months as crews carefully realigned the gas line under that cable.
“I always wondered how long that lane was going to be closed,” said Mike Kelly. “I think a lot of drivers did.”
Holly Bradshaw said that she didn’t mind the barriers.
“I think they were there to serve a purpose, and I’m glad they’re now gone,” she said. “I don’t find that they were obstructing anything.”
Trefry said that an unspecified number of vehicles struck the barriers this past winter.
“They did serve their purpose, protecting that driver from whatever’s in that work zone,” he said. “And also our crews, who were on — or who could have been — on site.”
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