First blueprints of Powers/Airport overpass project in Colorado Springs released Thursday

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- We're getting our first look at the conceptual drawings for the overpass project at Powers Boulevard and Airport Road.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) released the blueprints during an official groundbreaking ceremony late Thursday morning.

Why break ground on the $46 million project a month after construction began?

"Because it was the only day we could get almost everyone here," said CDOT spokesperson Amber Shipley. "As it was, CDOT executive director Shoshanna Lew had a scheduling conflict and couldn't make it."

The project is generating excitement among officials who first suggested the need for it in 2018, and there are high hopes for it.

The Powers/Airport intersection will move it slightly north of its current location and become an interchange similar to the one completed two years ago at Powers and Research Parkway.

Airport will have the overpass and the diverging diamond traffic flow that we've seen at Powers/Research, and at the Interstate 25 andFillmore Street interchange.

"(Diverging Diamonds) are a much more efficient way to move traffic through an intersection or an interchange," said John Cater, of the Federal Highway Administration. "Sometimes, transportation is criticized for not being innovative enough. We don't do things like we always did. There's a lot of innovations that a lot of you don't see."

The project is designed to ease traffic flow and improve safety for ever-increasing traffic along Powers, as well as in and out of Peterson Space Force Base.

Another objective is to provide better and safer access for pedestrians, bicycles and other non-motorized traffic.

The overpass project will take two years to complete, meaning that we can expect to see it finished by the end of 2026.

Colorado Springs City Council president Randy Helms was among the dignitaries who spoke during the event.