Southern Colorado to receive some of $42 million in CDOT funding for transportation projects
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Department of Transportation is making money available for communities that applied for projects designed to improve to biking and walking access through town.
CDOT is awarding $42 million to 37 communities as part of its Transportation Alternatives Program; eight southern Colorado communities are included.
Among the local recipients are Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Cañon City, Pueblo West, La Veta, Lamar, Westcliffe and the South Central Council of Governments.
Colorado Springs will receive $720,000, combined with a previous TAP grant of $1.3 million, for walking, biking and safety improvements along West Colorado Avenue in the Old Colorado City district.
In recent years, there's been rising concern about traffic congestion, limited parking, noise and safety along the busy shopping district stretch.
Todd Frisbie, the city's traffic engineer, said that changes could be made to the avenue between 21st Street and 31st Street, but also could go as far east as 8th Street.
"We did the Midland Corridor Study from 2020 to 2022 for ideas about the improvements that might be made," he explained. "It could look like additional parking. It's likely wider sidewalks. It's also improved bus stops, potential bump-outs at intersections to shorten those pedestrian crossings, and then sort of enhance bike and pedestrian facilities."
One suggestion is to reduce traffic along the avenue to one lane in each direction, and install bike lanes.
"I don't know if I like that," said Kem Winternitz, a business owner in Old Colorado City for five years. "We have enough bike lanes all day. Cyclists have been treated very well by the city. Hopefully, they can find a solution that makes everyone happy."
Another issue is that the popular Midland Trail, which parallels the avenue to the south, has a gap between 21st and 28th streets -- forcing cyclists to travel on the avenue or on Cucharras Street, with no bike lanes and in often-heavy traffic.
But to Mischa Brown, who just moved to the area several weeks ago, pedestrian safety is the biggest concern.
"I find that the traffic lights, for example, are not timed for walkers," she said. "I've had to wait two or three minutes to get across the street -- a little, tiny street. That's frustrating."
Frisbie said that the city will include public feedback in the final design of the project.
Manitou Springs is slated to get $427,500 to extend the paved Creekwalk Trail on the west side of town, from Serpentine Drive to the entrance of Rainbow Falls.
"That's really the vision of what we want for the Creek Walk Trail," said Manitou spokesman Alex Trefry. "It follows the master planning and everything else for the Creek Walk trail, to really extend it from one end of Manitou Springs to the other."
Pueblo West will receive more than $1.3 million to increase access for pedestrians and cyclists along Purcell Boulevard.
Cañon City will benefit from two grants, totaling almost $1.3 million, for similar upgrades along U.S. 50 trough downtown and connecting Main Street with the Arkansas River.
CDOT will begin distributing the grants next year for projects between 2024 and 2026; each community had to pay 20% of its grant to qualify for the state amount.
