EL PASO COUNTY — Austin Bluffs and Academy is one of the busiest intersections in Colorado Springs. If you drive through it during the busiest times of the day, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., you may have to wait for the lights to change twice before you get through.
Two cycles? The traffic engineering division manager for the city, Todd Frisbie, says two cycles is not an unusually long wait.
"Especially during the peak hours," Frisbie said.
Frisbie says his department's goal is to limit delays at intersections to between 30 and 50 seconds.
"What we're trying to do is provide just enough infrastructure to provide an acceptable level of service during the peak times," Frisbie said.
But does "acceptable" become "intolerable" as more and more people move to the city? Frisbie says not necessarily.
"Because there's not land for that additional growth," he said.
That growth, he says, instead is expanding east, and he says his department has a plan to help as it does. The money comes from an extension of the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority sales tax approved in 2022.
"Voters approved the one cent sales tax and 55% of that goes to capital projects," Frisbie said. "We have an A-list of projects and we will use that funding over the next 10 years for those specific projects."
Frisbie says the plan for the next decade is focused on improving roads in four main areas:
1. The extension of Powers Road from Highway 83 to I-25
2. Old Ranch Road west of Chapel Ridge Drive to Voyager Parkway
3. Woodmen Road between Powers Road and Golden Sage Road
4. Marksheffel Road between North Carefree Circle and Dublin Boulevard
As the city expands and more people move here, many will wonder about the impact on crime.
Earlier this year the non-partisan research organization Common Sense Institute released a report analyzing crime in Colorado Springs. They found between 2010-2022, the population increased by more than 17 percent, but the number of crimes went down by more than 9 percent, from more than 32,000 in 2010 to more than 29,000 in 2022.
Co-author of that report and former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey says they attribute that directly to how the city has chosen to spend taxpayer dollars and the work of law enforcement officials.
"We came to the conclusion that is was their investment in law-enforcement and the idea of holding people accountable for the things that they're doing," Morrissey said.
Investment how? Morrissey says they found on average spending per resident by the Colorado Springs Police Department has increased by 72.9% since 2010.
"That has helped Colorado Springs be one of the only cities in the state of Colorado driving their crime rate down," he said. "Their population is going up but also their crime rate is going down because they are investing in law enforcement."
If Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade has his way, that investment will continue.
"Very early into my administration I have come out of the gates swinging, showing that support for law enforcement is really important," Mobolade said. "We're going to tackle our slow response times, we're going to tackle our problem around retention and recruitment. The new police academy really helps to support those initiatives. The community should expect those numbers to keep getting better.
We asked Mobolade if there is any funding he expects to cut back for police but he says he does not know yet. He told us they are in the middle of the budget process and will be looking at some cuts across the city as sales tax revenues continue to slow in this economy. However, he says since public safety is a top priority for his administration, he will make sure whatever does happen makes the least amount of impact to the city's public safety needs. The official budget presentation October 2, 2023.
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