Completion of Austin Bluffs Parkway project in Colorado Springs delayed four months
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The surprise discovery of a fiber optics cable has delayed the finish of a Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) project from last October until sometime next month.
KRDO 13's The Road Warrior learned of the situation after being contacted by a viewer who asked why work wasn't completed yet.
Jeff Kretzer, a CSU gas construction supervisor, said that crews recently found the cable -- owned by another company -- in the same area they're relocating an existing natural gas line, and workers had to realign it under the cable.
"This is an older neighborhood," he explained. "We found some fiber that wasn't surveyed the first initial time, and it was difficult locating it. So, we had to regroup and re-route the gas pipe. This isn't uncommon, especially in older neighborhoods. You have to be ready for anything. You never know what you'll find."
As The Road Warrior reported in September, the $600,000 project started in August on a 3/4-mile stretch of Austin Bluffs Parkway, in the westbound right lane between Goldenrod Drive and the Union Boulevard exit.
Crews are relocating the gas lines to increase safety and service reliability.
A line of steel barriers winds along the project to separate traffic from the working crews.
"They're working great," Kretzer said. "No one has hit them yet, as far as I know."
Meanwhile, on a 3.5-acre parcel at the north end of the project, CSU -- in a separate project -- is building a new power substation to better meet current and future electricity demand.
The Central Bluffs Substation is scheduled to begin operating next year. A fence has been erected around the parcel, which has two houses and four office buildings CSU acquired for demolition.
Kretzer said that even after the gas line relocation project is finished, the steel barriers will remain in place unto a CSU contractor installs utility lines for the substation.
David Evangelides, the viewer who contacted The Road Warrior, visited the construction site and responded to the delay in the gas line relocation.
"It at least gave me some reassurance that someone is working on it, and that they know there is an issue, or that people are concerned about the traffic flow," he said.
