About 30 percent of the $104 million interchange at Woodmen Road and Academy Boulevard was paid for using PPRTA tax revenue.
Ever wonder when Centennial Boulevard will be finished south from Fillmore Street, linking it to Interstate 25 at Fontanero?
Maybe you’ve wanted Old Ranch Road widened at Kettle Creek. Or you want West Colorado Avenue and South 8th Street rebuilt with sidewalks, curbs, gutters and bike lanes.
Those projects, and dozens more, are on the city’s wish list and they will be prioritized by the Colorado Springs City Council at its Feb. 28 meeting.
You can check out the list . It is item 4-A-3 on the agenda and starts on page 26.
Make your priorities known by contacting your Council rep.
Then, in November, you’ll get more input when transportation officials ask voters to agree to pay for them all.
The list includes projects scattered around Colorado Springs and lumped in five categories: expansion/enhancement; modernization/safety; non-motorized; preservation/restoration; and transit.
Here's how the Proby Parkway interchange looks from GoogleEarth.
Each project is graded and divided into the “A” and “B” categories. There are about 50 projects on the “A” list.
Ranking the projects is a complicated process and required balancing lots of demands, safety questions and funding considerations.
Take Centennial’s expansion. It’s been planned since the 1980s as Mountain Shadows and Peregrine developed and the high-tech industry boomed along the Garden of the Gods Road corridor. Centennial was to be the shortcut that took pressure off I-25.
Of course, the high-tech corridor looks more like death row now. But plans for a Veteran’s Administration clinic at Centennial and Fillmore and other developments are putting new pressure on the city to finish the boulevard.
The city would like to coordinate it with the planned reconstruction of the Fillmore-I-25 interchange, which the state Department of Transportation hopes to complete using a $10 million federal grant.
“The problem is it needs to be completed with local money,” said Kathleen Krager, senior city traffic engineer. “We need $9 million. It’s on the A list of projects.”
The question is how to come up with the money.
Since 2004, a voter-approved one-cent sales tax has generated about $60 million a year for road construction, maintenance, sidewalks, curbs and gutters and bus service. The tax revenue is administered by the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.
But that tax is expiring in 2014 and without a source of revenue, the wish list will remain just that — wishes.
“If we have funding, the Centennial project would be built, starting in 2015,” Krager said.
Faithful Side Streets readers — both of you — know the value of the tax. Often I’ve written about projects.
And when I studied the new list, I was amazed at the needs that still exist across the community.
Take a look and let the city know your priorities.
Then, in November, tell them again!
======================================================
I think key parts of the initial bill are missing. The 2004 bill passed on the basis that it would maintain first, then build. Our streets are in a state of embarrassing disrepair, that is if you venture to the Southern end of town. How many times we will continue to improve Woodmen Road and it’s interchanges before we stop increasing the density in that area? I would support extending the tax if more money was spent on maintenance of the existing infrastructure before new construction. Additionally, any new tax extension, would also have to have with it, a sunset period. We can no longer trust our elected officials to look out for the best interests of the constituents they were to represent.
the Woodman Academy interchange was rebuilt with money from the 2009 ARRA. Money that had been earmarked for the rebuild, prior to ARRA was used for other projects. Bill can probably give us the complete list of those. I think Bill’s main point is that our infrastructure is getting worse, even with the expiring PPRTA. We as voters need to approve a replacement unless we want to live with inadequate, crumbling roads and bridges.
Eric, actually the original PPRTA passed as a mix of Captial, Maintenance and Transit. They member Governments understood that they had to build new infrastructure (sometimes replace) and maintain the current infrastructure. It would be great if we had more money to maintain the current infrastructure, but at least the PPRTA is making a difference, without it, we would be in a lot worse shape. I am hoping the community will see the good that the PPRTA has done over the last 7 years. We have accomplished lot, and all of our projects have been completed on time and within the budget. And as promised, all of our projects have been “pay as you go” so no money has been borrowed.
Tom Harold
PPRTA CAC Chair
Quick question: Exactly WHERE is the “Proby Parkway”? I don’t recognize the view.
Proby Parkway runs east from South Academy Boulevard to the airport at Powers Boulevard. It runs parallel to the old Drennan Road. The view is looking east at Academy Boulevard. The interchange is the city’s first three-level overpass, by the way.