Drainage project that has delayed paving finally begins in El Paso County
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The county is now a week into a major drainage project that will eventually allow crumbling pavement at a busy intersection to be repaved.
Numerous viewers have complained to KRDO 13's The Road Warrior for the past year about the poor condition of North Gate Boulevard at Struthers Road; the former is in Colorado Springs, and the latter is in the county.
Some repaving of the eastbound lanes of North Gate in front of the Western Museum of Mining and Industry was done earlier this fall, but officials said that the westbound lanes and the northbound lanes of Struthers can't be repaved until completion of the drainage project.
That project finally started last week, with the county building a stormwater retention pond, south of North Gate and in the Interstate 25 corridor.
Within the next few weeks, crews will begin installing 3,000 feet of stormwater pipes along North Gate and Struthers.
The county expects to finish the project next spring, after which the city will repave the rest of the intersection.
"The biggest challenge will be at the end -- asphalt repaving, and how we can line that up with the weather," said John Lantz, a county senior engineer. "The spring time frame is what we're quoting folks. Things will line up, hopefully, in the April time frame."
He explained that the project took a long time to start because it required approvals for being on Air Force Academy property and for environmental assessments.
"We started on (November) 19th and got final approval only a day or two before that," he explained. "The project crosses city and county jurisdiction, and the Air Force Academy and CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) jurisdiction."
The retention pond has a capacity large enough to capture stormwater runoff from a 1 in 100-year flood; when filled, the water will flow through an existing CDOT drainage pipe into Smith Creek, which flows under I-25 and connects to Monument Creek.
Just before the eastbound North Gate repaving, city crews filled dozens of potholes at the intersection.
Drivers should expect traffic impacts in the area from mid-December until the project's completion.
Still, some viewers remain frustrated that the intersection will endure another winter of deterioration.
"And then in the wintertime, we get the snowplows that make it even worse," said Dave Hardin. "So, that hasn't helped the situation."
But Douglas Jenkins agrees with the need for the drainage project.
"Water pours downhill, pools in the intersection, and creates more potholes," he said. "It definitely needs underwater storm drainage."
