Paving of Pikes Peak Avenue in Colorado Springs delayed by change in strategy

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- City officials have canceled a plan to use recycled asphalt in the repaving of Pikes Peak Avenue, between Circle Drive and Chelton Road, on the city's east side.

In mid-June, neighbor Kirk Skabo emailed KRDO 13's The Road Warrior, saying that he thought the long-awaited paving job was finally about to happen when equipment arrived -- only to see the equipment disappear just as quickly, with no paving done.

A drive down the nine-block stretch makes it clear why drivers and neighbors have anxiously awaited a repaving job since the start of the 2C expanded paving program in 2016; the crumbling street has been pothole-filled and crack-sealed so much that only a new layer of asphalt will improve it.

Corey Farkas, the city's operations and maintenance manager for public works, recently explained why paving hasn't happened yet.

"As we started taking a look at the roadway -- a little deeper as we got out there and they staged the equipment -- in talking with the contractor, we found that with the sub-grades and the state of the roadway, it was not a good candidate for the Hot in Place recycling," he said. "That's a very specialized paving program, so we went ahead and switched gears."

Farkas said that the city will use the tried-and-true method of grinding off the old pavement and applying new asphalt on Pikes Peak Avenue, and expects it to happen before the end of paving season late next month.

The city has used the Hot in Place method on the northern end of Austin Bluffs Parkway, and on Wooten Road.