Block of northbound 8th Street in Colorado Springs closed since late May, reopens Monday morning
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- After stalling in front of Walmart for more than four months, a major segment of the ongoing 8th Street improvements project has resumed its gradual advance northward.
In a release issued late last week, city officials said that the northbound lanes of 8th Street, between Motor City Drive and Lower Gold Camp Road/Abbot Lane, would reopen to traffic on Monday.
And it did, shortly after 7:30 a.m.
Last week, crews began repaving the affected block to cover the first part of a new water main being installed by Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) between Motor City and Cimarron Street.
Crews have also applied temporary lane markings there, and the city said that crews will return later to apply a final asphalt layer and permanent lane markings.
Progress slowed after crews bored 30 feet under Bear Creek for the first phase of the installation; CSU had to connect local business service lines to the new main, and the city had to complete stormwater upgrades to address flash flooding from the hills above 8th Street.
That phase was also delayed earlier when crews learned they had to redesign the bore under the creek.
Opening the lanes mentioned above should provide relief for drivers turning into Walmart; however, traffic immediately narrows to one lane in each direction as the pattern shifts to the east side of 8th Street, and the next phase of the water main replacement continues.
That phase will be in front of the Shell gas station and the former Sonic restaurant, with the traffic impacts extending an additional block to Costilla Street.
The water main in that area is on the opposite side of 8th Street, and the new traffic pattern brings significant impacts to adjacent businesses -- including KRDO 13.
The new pattern also closes Moreno Avenue at the 8th Street intersection.
Still, some drivers and pedestrians are glad to see the gradual improvements.
"It's complicated with a dog, and with groceries, and a bike," said Essie Garner, Jr., who walks through the area daily to catch a city bus. "But other than that, I really got no problem with it. I think they're doing a good job. I think they're doing a good job cleaning up the road, yeah."
Meanwhile, repairs continue on the west side of the Fountain Creek bridge, at the north end of the project; that work occasionally closes the southbound left lane, which can cause traffic backups in three directions at the north end of 8th Street, the westbound lanes of the US 24 Frontage Road, and the parking lot of the Colorado Place shopping center.
Officials hope to finish the entire project late next spring.
