What is a cross-pan? Crews recently built one in Security-Widefield

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- A cross-pan may sound like something you'd cook food in, but it's actually small slabs of concrete joined together at an intersection to improve street drainage.

It's an infrastructure upgrade that will help ease some of the ongoing drainage issues in the Security-Widefield community.

According to Dan Gerhard, the county's construction engineer, crews replace an average of 40 cross-pan structures annually; the latest project was at the intersection of Main Street and Holly Drive, next to Pi-Ute Park.

He said that cross-pan allows stormwater runoff from rain or melting snow to drain more efficiently -- particularly in areas where runoff flows from several streets and the nearest storm drain is several blocks away.

"They're generally about six feet wide and have a very shallow V, and the water flows down the curb and then flows across the center of this, and then just continues its way down," Gerhard explained. "We put these cross-pans in because for one, they last a lot longer than if they were like an asphalt joint -- since it's also extremely hard to pave the asphalt that kind of that ditch fashion."

The cross-pan constriction is part of a larger project to replace concrete sidewalks, curbs, gutters and driveway aprons to meet federal disability standards; it allows three blocks of Holly, east of Main, to be repaved next year.

"About 19 out of 20 residents are happy that we're we're doing it because we're providing improvements, Gerhard said. "You know, all of our work occurs within our right-of way. When we're doing a driveway apron, we're going to obviously shut that resident out for a couple of days. We notify at least seven days in advance, and we speak with each resident who's going to be impacted."

The county is spending $350,000 on the Holly improvements.