Next phase of Mesa to Manitou natural gas line project starts Monday in west Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) project that started a year ago to install five miles of new gas pipeline, continues with its second phase Monday.
The latest work will require a three-month closure of southbound 31st Street, between Garden of the Gods and Old Colorado City, from Fontanero Street to Bijou Street -- an area that has a steady amount of traffic.
The pipeline installation will start on the project's north end at 31st and Fontanero and gradually proceed for five blocks downhill to Bijou.
Preliminary work was completed last week with the placement of message boards to alert residents to the project, staging of some construction equipment and deployment of "no parking" signs.
The "Mesa to Manitou" project is part of CSU's annual investment of $9 million to upgrade and maintain its natural gas infrastructure. It began late last January on Mesa Road and Fontmore Street.
"This is a very important project," said CSU spokesman Alex Trefry. "As you can see, it's cold out right now. The reliability of our gas system is very important. So, we're doing this project to make sure that it continues to be safe and reliable fort many years to come, on that side of town."
CSU said that it tried to avoid full street closures during the project's first phase, but this next phase is different because 31st Street is divided by a drainage channel separating the northbound and southbound lanes.
The project will be in a residential neighborhood with homes on both sides; only local traffic will be allowed through the southbound lane and drivers are asked to use 30th Street as a detour.
Randy Woods lives along the project route and said that he would have liked more advance notice.
"I think improvements are always good, but the inconvenience it can cause the local traffic in the neighboring areas is going to be a bit difficult," he said. "I got my notice on Friday. I haven't figured out a plan for getting out yet, but guess I'll have to come up with something on the fly."
Trefry said that the project's final phase will connect the gas line to work CSU has already done.
"It'll be from Red Rock Avenue and Bijou to Pikes Peak Avenue and then west to Manitou Springs, where we will connect the line at El Paso Boulevard and Beckers Lane," he explained.
