El Paso Blvd. reopening delayed as Utilities adds gas-line project west of Columbia

El Paso Blvd. reopening delayed as Utilities adds gas-line project west of Columbia

Working on El Paso Boulevard between Columbia Road and Beckers Lane, a Colorado Springs Utilities crew installs a new section of 30-inch-diameter water line during the two-month project that ended in February. A follow-up gas-line replacement through there is expected to be finished before mid-March, allowing the road to reopen to through traffic.

Westside Pioneer photo

March 5, 2018
       Why didn't El Paso Boulevard reopen in mid-February, as had been announced earlier that month by Colorado Springs Utilities?
       Steve Rodriguez of Utilities revealed at a Feb. 28 public meeting that a gas line is now being replaced, in addition to the water line replacement that had closed El Paso between Beckers Lane and Columbia Road to through traffic since mid-December.
       He predicted that the new gas line segment, more than 700 feet in length, would be in place before mid-March.
       Combined with an ongoing Colorado Avenue bottleneck - caused by the two-year Westside Avenue Action Plan (WAAP) project - the El Paso closure has limited the options for east-west motorized and nonmotorized travelers going from the Westside toward Ute Pass or Manitou.
       The meeting where Rodriguez spoke was an informal “coffee with a contractor” gathering, called by WAAP to inform the public about changes and impacts in (and near) the $30.9 million project west of 31st Street.
       He said the gas line was a late addition to the Utilities project on El Paso. Staffers in that division of the city-owned enterprise decided that it would be good to replace the line - which was over half a century old - while the street was still torn up for the water line.
       In answer to a question, Rodriguez said he does not expect any additional Utilities line replacements through that segment, such as wastewater or electrical.

Westside Pioneer article
(Projects: Utilities)

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