Businesses hope the completion of Powers Blvd. overpass will bring an end to ‘a difficult run’
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- After over a year of construction, the Colorado Highway 21 diverging diamond interchange (DDI) is now open to traffic. The Colorado Department of Transportation opened the interchange Wednesday, which creates an overpass for cars to take Powers continuously over Research Parkway.
The $42 million project, funded by COVID stimulus funds, will be officially completed in November, after crews finish taking down barricades and signage, and landscape the area, and surrounding businesses are ready.
"It's been a difficult run," said Mike Simon, managing partner of Pies and Grinders Pizza in Colorado Springs. "Construction has taken us every bit of 15 to 20% off for the last I would say it's close to 13 months now."
Simon says the construction over the past year has lengthened the commute time for customers to get to the restaurant, causing regular customers to visit the pizza place less frequently.
"We're just a small family-owned and operated business," said Simon. "We're not a franchise. We're not a big corporation. You know, we're not the Pizza Huts of the world. We don't have that unlimited backing to keep us flowing."
Next door, Kiddie Kutters says during the construction, they added ten extra minutes to appointment times for those running late due to the construction.
Darci Rubert, a stylist there, says she had to alter her route to work to avoid the traffic. Still, every day, she would get excited to see the progress being made.
"When something new happened, I would run in and I'd say, 'you guys the lights are up, the lines are painted,'" said Rubert. "It's been anticipated for quite a while, and we're excited it's open now.”
The Colorado Department of Transportation says they work to minimize any impacts due to construction projects. For now, they're grateful for all the positive change they believe will come from these improvements.
CDOT hopes the new overpass will alleviate the strain on Powers Boulevard and Research Parkway as more and more people have moved to the area.
