City workers prepare for repaving in Colorado Springs

City workers in Colorado Springs are working with concrete now to prepare for pouring asphalt next year.

Workers are repairing curbs, gutters and sidewalks in certain areas — not because they’re necessarily crumbling, but because the areas are where streets will be repaved in 2016.

Corey Farkas, manager of the city’s Streets Division, said some of the improvements are required by the Americans With Disabilities Act.

“The last thing we want to do is pave a brand new road, not fix the curb and gutter, and get water infiltration underneath that new road from the cracked curb and gutter, and we’ve got a roadway that fails prematurely — and we don’t want that,” Farkas said.

Farkas said curb, gutter and sidewalk repair comprise roughly half the cost of repaving projects. The city has a repaving budget of $7 million this year and the same amount next year.

The city also offers a cost sharing plan to property owners who have extensive concrete damage and want to jump ahead on the priority list. Under the plan, property owners and the city share the cost of the repairs.

“We budgeted $175,000 for it this year,” Farkas said. “Next year, we’ll increase it to $200,000.”