First week of Nevada Avenue/Tejon Street project in Colorado Springs brings strong opposition from affected merchants

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The project to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety at a congested interchange just south of downtown is barely a week old and has already drawn strong criticism from a handful of affected business owners.

Since the project began on several blocks of Nevada Avenue and adjacent Tejon Street, south of the Interstate 25 overpass, crews have installed concrete barriers to prevent northbound Nevada traffic from turning left onto Motor Way.

But most importantly for the merchants opposing the project, southbound Nevada traffic also is blocked from turning left onto Arvada Street -- where an apartment complex, an auto broker, a U-haul dealer and a roofing repair shop operate.

"This project is reckless and endangers the neighborhood by directing commercial traffic down narrow streets past single-family residences, apartments, churches and schools," Mark Weida, owner of Street Smart Auto Brokers and Auto Care, recently wrote in an email to KRDO 13.

Weida said that much of the traffic is forced to detour onto Brookside Street to reach the Arvada businesses; he also said that he emailed his concerns to city officials who responded with a "very dismissive email."

"As you can see, the city is resolute and has no interest in hearing from us or meeting with us," he wrote. "I wonder how they will feel when one of these big trucks hurts someone while traversing down one of these residential streets?"

Weida also said that the city did not inform Arvada merchants about the project's impacts -- as they did about the recent construction and opening of a Maverik gas station and convenience store at the corner of Tejon and Motor Way.

He demands that the city halt the project until its needs and impacts are further studied.

However, Weida said that after meeting with city officials in February, the business owners received a response essentially saying that improving traffic flow for thousands of vehicles in the busy Nevada corridor outweighs the several hundred vehicles that travel on Arvada.

He also said that in the city's response, officials admitted that the project will increase traffic on Brookside, but that they will monitor it and make changes as needed.

Weida said that for those reasons -- along with the project being approved by voters to be financed by sales tax revenue from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority -- the city will not stop or change the project.

The project manager, Ryan Phipps, disputed claims that he and other city officials are unwilling to meet with affected business owners to discuss the situation.

"I'm open to having a conversation with them, to understand their impacts during construction, and to find out what we may or may not be able to do, to accommodate that," he said.

In fact, Phipps said that the city will meet with The Vanguard School to discuss any concerns officials there may have about the project -- even though the school year is nearly over.

The traffic signal at the Arvada intersection is deactivated; the barricades also prevent eastbound Motor Way traffic and westbound Arvada traffic from crossing or turning left onto Nevada.

"Starting this last week, all our customers are going: What the heck is going on?" said Diane Zednik, co-owner of Acme Fire & Safety Equipment. "They don't like driving in circles. They're still going to come, but now they're irritated."

During morning rush hour Tuesday, drivers found it challenging to turn north from Arvada to Nevada, and to squeeze into the left turn lane on Nevada to reach the I-25 entrance ramp.

The $9 million project is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

For project information, visit: https://coloradosprings.gov/I25Ramps.