Streets on international cycle race route getting patched up

Westside (and other) streets on international cycle race route getting patched up

       Colorado Springs leaders believe the USA Pro Challenge cycling race is a major boost for the city's economy and image.
       And now it can be said that the race's Stage 4 event, scheduled Aug. 21, will also be good for the city's roads… at least the ones that will be used by the 100-plus international riders.
       The City Street Division has hired a contractor (Trax) to fix bad spots along the entire Challenge route, much of which is on the Westside.

After starting at the Broadmoor Hotel (not shown), cyclists in the USA Pro Challenge Aug. 21 will pedal north to Colorado Avenue and head east to begin the first of four identical circuits that uses streets through the Westside and downtown (note directional arrows) before finishing downtown.

Courtesy of USA Pro Challenge

       “We're doing patches anywhere that we think might disturb the bike race,” said Mike Burk, the division's acting project manager for contracting. “We want to make it bike-friendly. We don't want anything that would give us a bloody nose. We don't need that.”
       He pointed out, for example, that just a few miles after the start the route will have a steep downhill on South 21st Street. A few uneven spots can be found there now, which Burk said will need to be smoothed out because the cyclists “will be coming down that hill at probably 60 mph.”
       The contractor started working on the avenue this month and will probably need about two more weeks to get done, he said.
       Other Westside streets on the route (see map on this page) are Colorado Avenue, 29th Street, Pikes Peak Avenue, Ridge Road, Juniper Way Loop, Gateway Road, 30th Street, Mesa Road, and Fontmore Road.
       They are part of a 16-mile circuit (also including a downtown loop) that the riders will take four times before a downtown finish. The scheduled 12:50 p.m. start will be at the Broadmoor Hotel. Riders will pedal north from there on Cresta Road/21st Street to the avenue.
       Not all the race's street-closure information has been announced yet, but Colorado Avenue is to be shut off to normal traffic from about noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 21.
       Stage 4 is one of seven in the Aug. 18-24 Pro Challenge, which will use a different Colorado town/area each day.

Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 7/9/14; Transportation: General)

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