Two-week closure of mile-long section of Meridian Road in Falcon starts Monday

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- The community of Falcon, northeast of Colorado Springs, is growing; and so is its traffic and associated impacts.

Crews are using Spring Break -- a time when school traffic is reduced -- to increase worker safety while making major improvements to a mile-long stretch of Meridian Road between Rex Road and Antlers Ridge Drive.

The affected section of Meridian will close Monday and reopen Saturday, March 30; detours are in place at three locations along the road around the project.

The upgrades include: Installing traffic signals at the Rex Road intersection; add turn lanes on Rex at the intersection; improve drainage; relocate utility lines and repave road surfaces.

Another project objective is eliminating poor sight lines for drivers on Meridian; workers will raise lower areas and reduce hills.

The project will cost nearly $10 million and is financed by a road improvement fee the county assesses to property owners in unincorporated areas when traffic is increased by development; it's also part of a larger Meridian improvement project that started last month and should be finished next spring.

Early Monday morning, workers put final touches on detour signs; a county deputy pulled over several drivers for speeding on Meridian.