Yearlong corridor improvement project on south of downtown Colorado Springs nears end

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The overnight Wednesday closure of three blocks of Motor Way is a sign that the corridor and safety improvement project near Interstate 25, along South Nevada Avenue and South Tejon Street, is nearing completion.

During the closure between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., crews installed new street signs and repainted lane markings.

The $9 million project started last spring and was supposed to be finished by the end of last year but was slowed due to weather delays in late fall and early winter.

Overall project goals include reducing traffic congestion and improving traffic flow through the I-25/Nevada/Tejon interchange, and increasing safety for a large number of pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders in the area.

The upgrades are a welcome sight for people like Jason Hotchkin, who's disabled.

"That's going to be great, then," he said. "Because I was homeless for a very long time -- 17 years, off and on. So, it makes me feel much safer -- especially now that I'm confined to this (wheelchair)."

Officials also hope the upgrades will eliminate deaths to pedestrians hit by vehicles; several recent victims were some of the many homeless people who frequent the area.

Crews have widened sidewalks and bike lanes; in fact, the bike lanes at intersections are so wide that some drivers have mistaken them for right turn lanes.

Workers have improved traffic safety and flow by installing a new center median on Nevada, eliminating some left turns on Nevada and adding lanes on the northbound and southbound connector roads.

But Christopher Wright, a local driver, isn't satisfied.

"They need to do more repaving on South Nevada," he said. "And there's still too much congestion. Enough that it's hard for people to just stop at a store or a restaurant."

Wright isn't aware that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has started a six-month project to repave the south end of Nevada between Brookside Street and Fort Carson's main gate.

Because the interchange is heavily-traveled, drivers can expect more daytime congestion until the project's expected completion in two weeks.

Other improvements include repairs to the Motor Way bridge over Cheyenne Creek, and construction of a pedestrian bridge across the creek, along the southbound connector road.