COLORADO SPRINGS — The city of Colorado Springs has closed westbound lanes on Old Ranch Road between Chapel Hills Drive and Lexington Drive as of Thursday.
This is all part of the city's paving operations. But this project was not something the city was planning on doing. This project is now underway after the city found issues with the road.
When crews get out to do a mill and overlay, sometimes they do not know what is underneath. When the workers initially put the mill on the road, and took the top layer of roadway off, they found "soft spots."
Traffic was going over the milled surface and that road surface started to deteriorate. Normally it takes large, heavy cars to damage a roadway. That is why the city decided to close the roadway for now, so they can fix the surface of the road.
The subgrade underneath the roadway was not what the city wants to pave on top of it. Once they fix the current surface, the city will finish the project. As for those who live in this area, it could impact you heading to work or students attending District 20 schools.
“We actually went to the schools. We spoke to the school superintendent for D20, let them know about what is going on and what the impacts would be so they could get it out to all of the parents that would be traveling to the schools for drop off and pickup in the mornings and afternoons to let them know what was going on and we are trying to detour everybody,” said Corey Farkas, public works operations and maintenance division manager for the city of Colorado Springs.
I’m told this is part of the 2C Project, and the city wants to make sure they are spending taxpayer dollars well. They know this is an inconvenience for now, but making sure they go under and do the emergency work will ensure the roadways last longer once the project is completed.
Right now, there are detours that you can take. Just remember to slow down when driving in cone zones.
The project will wrap on September 15.
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