Colorado Springs identifies 3 bridges for repair

While Colorado Springs prepares to start its sales-tax-for-streets plan, a city department finds extra money for other infrastructure projects.

Travis Easton, the city’s public service director, said Monday the Streets Division produced a savings of nearly $1.1 million in salaries and benefits for employees.

Easton said most of the money will be spent to repair three of the city’s 400 aging bridges and pave some neighborhood streets.

“(The sales-tax-for-streets plan) is not going to hit some of the residential areas until later, in years 4-5,” he said. “So this would get some of the residential areas hit a little bit sooner. Albeit a modest amount, but anything will help.”

The bridges to be repaired are on Verde Drive near the Circle Drive intersection; on Evans Avenue over Cheyenne Creek; and on Rockrimmon Boulevard, a bridge already under repair.

Easton explained how the Streets Division produced the savings.

“Part of it is we run things like a business,” he said. “Part of it is some employees left who were at a higher (pay grade), and we replaced them with people at lower classifications.”

Easton said the Streets Division and Colorado Springs Utilities will form a priority list for paving some neighborhood streets.

“We’ve sent them several batches of streets to look at, to make sure they don’t have any improvements planned in those areas,” he said.

Easton said some of the money also will pay for a master plan for bicycle riding, some pedestrian projects and a bridge in a southwest side homeowners’ association.

“It’s the Oak Bridge area,” he said. “They’ve agreed to come up with 10 percent of the cost, so it’s a good public-private partnership.”