Neighbors wait for construction completion one year after street collapse
One year later, a stretch of Chestnut Street north of Fillmore is still closed in Colorado Springs, and it could take several more months to complete repairs.
The sound of those cranes are all too familiar to neighbors in the area.
“I didn’t know all of the layout, I knew it was going to be an inconvenience with foot traffic, traffic,” said Nelson F. Archuleta, Jr., who lives nearby.
Many who live near the closure are growing tired of the altered traffic patterns and are worried about safety in the area.
“There are increased stop signs trying to slow people down, but we haven’t noticed much improvement,” said Erin Ambroze. “Not only are there more people… there are faster people.”
City engineers insist progress is being made. They cite the scope of the project for the long schedule.
The collapse was caused by a pipe that gave way after heavy rain hit the area in August 2015. That caused a supporting bridge under the road to give way, then the road collapsed.
“What we had to do was lay the slopes back to make sure everything was stable,” said Alex Pelligrino with the city of Colorado Springs. “The project is on schedule from the first schedule we gave out. We’ll be done in November.”
Many who live nearby are holding the city to that promise.
“My husband and I left for a month, we’re teachers, for a road trip, and we were kind of expecting to see something when we got back. We got back and there wasn’t any change as far as we could tell,” Ambroze said.
Engineers say some work has already been done to stabilize and design the bridge. They figure it typically takes two years to design a project and complete it and promise this one will be faster. The biggest work is expected to begin by the end of the month.
The city said the $3.5 million price tag was already in the works as a reconstruction plan had already been passed.
Engineers say there are 30 roads with a similar construction but those roads have been evaluated and are deemed safe for travel.
