Crews making final touches on new Voyager Parkway bridge in north Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The future of the North Powers Boulevard extension to Interstate 25 has reached another important step with the full opening of a new bridge on Voyager Parkway.

Earlier this week, officials opened all four lanes of traffic on the bridge; it had been down to two lanes after a delayed partial reopening in mid-November.

"It's about 99% complete," said Tim Mitros, manager of the Copper Ridge Metro District that is initially financing the project.

"We still have to do the reseeding vegetation, but that is mainly (all) we have left to do," he explained. "There's going to be a meeting with the city and CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) to go over everything and do a final inspection, and there will probably be some punch list items. But those will be taken care of relatively soon."

The new bridge will rise above the future Powers extension when it arrives from the east; existing ramps already connect to I-25 between both ends of Spectrum Loop — which served as the primary detour for the bridge construction.

Officials likely have a great sense of relief at finishing the project, after enduring several frustrating delays since work began in November 2023.

The bridge was scheduled for completion last August before the opening of the nearby Ford Amphitheater; however, the venue opened a month early and issues with relocating utilities put the bridge project a monty behind.

Construction was then supposed to end by Halloween but was further delayed by the weather, and the wait for concrete and paving work to be finished.

Mitros said that the next phase of the Powers extension is to design three bridges between Powers and the Voyager bridge that will cross the Flying Horse subdivision.

"There will be the Flying Horse Club Drive bridge," he said. "There's the Ridgeline Drive bridgem and a bridge over Old Northgate road. And then there is a pedestrian-sized golf cart bridge crossing to the west of the Flying Horse Club Drive bridge that we'll have in our first package."

Mitros said that the Ridgeline bridge will be a high-rise structure as it crosses a valley from where Powers currently ends.

That phase will be followed by a sound mitigation study.

"The city of Colorado Springs is working on the sound mitigation, along with the Federal Highway Administration, making sure all the criteria is met," he said. "We had issues with sound at the amphitheater, and we — along with Flying Horse residents — are concerned about sound through the neighborhood from traffic across a bridge."

In the final phase, crews will build a bridge over Black Squirrel Creek and a new interchange at Powers/Highway 83/Interquest Parkway.

The metro district is fronting the cost of the project through property tax revenue from surrounding commercial businesses and several apartment complexes.

The district also financed the earlier two-year project to connect the north end of the Powers Boulevard extension to I-25; the Voyager bridge and the Spectrum Loop bridge cross over that extension and were built by the district.

To get the Voyager project completed as soon as possible, the district agreed to be reimbursed by the renewal of the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority; revenue from its penny sales tax began in January year.

However, officials said that the Powers extension likely won't be finished until 2030 at the earliest.