COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — The long-awaited Powers Boulevard extension to I-25 in Colorado Springs is closer to becoming a reality. City Council members heard a presentation Monday afternoon about a financing plan that could speed up how quickly construction begins.
Drivers who currently take the new Voyager Parkway exit from I-25 hit a dead end a Voyager Parkway. Under the proposal, the Copper Ridge Metro District would borrow up to $20 million to begin building a bridge along Voyager that would eventually cross Powers Boulevard.
The City of Colorado Springs, El Paso County, and the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority would then repay the debt with revenue collected from the PPRTA sales tax.
The city and Copper Ridge agreed to a similar financing arrangement to build the I-25 and Voyager interchange.
"I think it would be nice," said Sage McKee. "It would be nice to get the traffic to go away and to just have a little bit of progress around here."
News 5 met with McKee and Ryan Covington as they were filling up at a gas station near the project site.
"Like my grandfather always said, you can't stand in the way of progress," Covington joked.
Brian Kirkpatrick works near the project area and expects the booming development nearby to put pressure on traffic.
"Were to the point where if you don't do something to relieve the congestion, you're left with surface traffic. And surface traffic is not really an ideal situation just for congestion alone, but also just for quality of life," he said.
The Powers Boulevard extension is one of the priority projects included in the PPRTA which was just renewed by voters in November.
Gayle Sturdivant, the acting Public Works Director for the City of Colorado Springs, told the council that it will take years for the revenue from PPRTA3 to become available for construction.
"What it will do is make Powers for over 12 miles with no red lights," Council President Randy Helms told his colleagues during the discussion. "Dublin just south of Woodmen will be the last red light as you travel Powers until you get on I-25 at exit 155.
Helms believes the financing plan would help build the project faster and lock in construction costs at 2023 prices as opposed to higher costs down the road.
"I think this is a very, very good way to do it, with the (time) value of money upfront, using it now, getting the project started now," he said.
The City of Colorado Springs and El Paso County together would commit around $103 million of their PPRTA funding towards the project. Sturdivant anticipates another $18 million could become available from PPRTA2 once all of the A-list projects in that current taxing period are complete.
Helms estimates the entire project could take 2.5 to 3 years to complete. It would be built in phases with additional bonds being issued through the Copper Ridge Metro District as the project moves along.
There was no formal vote by the council. The board will vote on the bond issuance in two weeks at their regular session on July 25.
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