Colorado Springs prepares preliminary street repaving list for 2025

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Just two months after the end of this year's paving season, officials have already prepared a preliminary list of streets to be repaved for next year.

To view the list, visit: https://coloradosprings.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=8e217b737c384074a1a6be1ce30058b9.

The list is included as part of a map showing streets repaved since 2021; the streets recommended for 2025 are in yellow.

Next year marks the tenth for the 2C expanded paving program, financed by a sales tax increase approved by voters in 2015; last month, voters approved extending the tax for a second time, taking the program through 2035.

Corey Farkas, the city's public works manager for operations and maintenance, said that more than 90% of next year's paving will occur on neighborhood streets.

Several viewers have asked KRDO 13's The Road Warrior if they can request that a street that's not on a given year's paving list, be added.

Farkas explained that can happen only under specific circumstances -- including whether a given year's budget allows it.

"Sometimes, when we get into a street -- and we go by segmentation, we get onto a roadway segment -- there are some cul-de-sacs that potentially shoot off of that particular segment, that aren't necessarily identified on the segment," he said. "So, when we get out there, it makes sense to go ahead and do the pre-overlay concrete and paving on those particular offshoots, because we won't return to that area for quire a while."

City officials realize that there's some public dissatisfaction with how streets are prioritized, but explain that they try to spend the 2C revenue where it's most needed and emphasize that it takes time to catch up on so many paving needs in a growing city.

The concrete work -- upgrading curbs, gutters, ramps and sidewalks -- to prepare for repaving has either been completed or is currently underway; some of that concrete work is happening on Oro Blanco Drive, between North Carefree Circle and Barnes Road.

Ann Green grew up along Illinois Avenue and said that the city told her the chances of repairing her street would increase if voters passed a ten-year extension of the 2C tax -- as they did last month.

"It's ridiculous," she said, after contacting The Road Warrior upon seeing the story Friday. "We have handicapped people who live in the neighborhood. They can't even come down this street with their walkers or their wheelchairs because the road's in such bad shape. There's no sidewalks, there's no curbs."

Farkas remarked on two newer paving techniques the city is experimenting with: Recycled asphalt and slurry-sealing.

The Road Warrior reported on both processes this summer.

The recycled asphalt method uses a long train of equipment to scrape off old asphalt, heat it to a high temperature, mix it with fresh asphalt -- which also includes some recycled material -- and applies it on site.

Farkas said that the city tried the process on sections of Austin Bluffs Parkway and Wooten Road but hasn't committed to using it regularly yet.

"We want to see how well it holds up through our weather cycles and temperature extremes," he said.

A previous paving method that didn't hold up well over time -- mixing old tires into the asphalt -- is why next year's list includes repaving the west end of Woodmen Road.

As for slurry-sealing mentioned above, Farkas said that the city is pleased with it and will make it a regular part of resurfacing; he added that it's a perfect fit for neighborhoods and is a step above chip-sealing that is performed on busier streets.

The Road Warrior reported on slurry-sealing done this summer in the Security-Widefield community of El Paso County.

"You want to put that slurry-seal on the residential streets because it's a finer product," he said. "The aggregate is sand rather that 3/8- or 1/4-inch rock. And so, you get a smoother ride. It's a little better for kids on bikes, skateboards and things of that nature."

Farkas mentioned Tia Juana Street on the city's east side, as a recipient of slurry-sealing.

"We had a successful paving year in 2024," Farkas said. "Next year will be a big year and we're excited about it."

Other streets on the 2025 preliminary list include several in the Broadmoor Bluffs area, and Cheyenne Boulevard and Cheyenne Road.