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Welcome!
Welcome to the Centennial Boulevard Extension e-newsletter. E-
newsletters will be sent periodically with project updates, upcoming meeting schedules and other useful information about the project.
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City of Colorado Springs
Project Consultant - AECOM
Ryan Weaver, P.E.
Consultant Project Manager
(719) 268-7431
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Property Owners Gain First-Hand Experience of the New Alignment
A Field Site Tour of the Centennial Boulevard Extension project was held Monday, Aug. 15, 6:30 p.m. Approximately 45 property owners and citizens participated. The tour was divided into two groups and was led by Jason Bonini and Ryan Weaver, AECOM Project Consultants. Participants heard more about the project with a brief presentation and a two-mile hike through the natural terrain of the road location. Several residents with properties located adjacent to the new Centennial Boulevard extension had an opportunity to see where the new alignment will be located through two first-hand experience field tours last summer. Participants were divided into two groups led by Aaron Egbert, City Project Manager; and Jason Bonini and Ryan Weaver, AECOM Project Consultants. Following a brief presentation, participants took a two-mile hike along the terrain where the new road alignment will be located.
Questions focused on the exact road location, bike lanes, sidewalks, landscaping, parks/trails access and lighting. "The site tour enabled neighborhood residents to see exactly where the road extension will be constructed in relation to the adjacent neighborhoods and to ask real-time questions," said Ebert. "We received a lot of input and continue to answer questions and address concerns from the community."
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Frequently Asked Questions
CLICK HERE to view Frequently Asked Questions and scroll down.
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The City of Colorado Springs is undertaking a project to extend Centennial Boulevard from Fillmore Street to the Interstate-25/ Fontanero Street interchange. This important roadway extension will provide much needed connectivity and mobility options to the west side of Colorado Springs as well as alleviate traffic congestion along Fillmore and Chestnut streets. Planned by the city for more than 30 years, the Centennial Boulevard extension was originally anticipated as a six-lane principal arterial to address travel demand between the Garden of the Gods Corridor and downtown. As land use and growth conditions evolved over time, the City reclassified the Centennial Boulevard Extension as a four-lane minor arterial.
The extension project was included in the original Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) program as a "C-list" project, but was not funded as other priorities took precedence. With increased development in the area and the growing need for this connection, it is on the PPRTA extension "A-list" of projects approved by more than 80 percent of the voters in 2012.
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City Updates Schedule for
Centennial Boulevard Extension
Project Divided into Two Phases
Planned since the mid-1980s, the Centennial Boulevard Extension project will improve mobility and north/south connectivity. Originally planned as a six-lane principal arterial, the project was redesigned as a four-lane minor arterial with a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour. A minor arterial is described as a four-lane street intended to permit "rapid and relatively unimpeded traffic movement throughout the City and carry high volumes of inter and intra-traffic which connect major land use elements." Ultimately, the project will extend Centennial Boulevard from Fillmore Street to the Interstate-25/Fontanero Street interchange. When completed, the roadway extension will provide much needed connectivity and mobility options to the west side of Colorado Springs as well as alleviate traffic congestion along Fillmore and Chestnut streets.
Design plans for the project are at 90 percent completion and have been formally accepted by the City of Colorado Springs. The project has been divided into two construction phases, to align with the current Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) project prioritization and funding availability schedule.
Phase 1 - Fillmore Street to Van Buren Street
Phase 1 involves constructing the missing section of Centennial Boulevard at the north end of the project by the Veteran's Clinic, and removal of the existing buildings on properties acquired by the City close to Fontanero Street. Phase 1 is estimated at 10 percent of the overall project work. Some pavement rehabilitation will take place as well as restriping and replacement of barricades. Pavement will be restriped as two lanes from Fillmore Street to Indian Hills and Van Buren Street. Although the gap will be paved and the road will be open to traffic, the Centennial Boulevard extension will remain blocked at Van Buren Street and Mesa Valley Road during this Phase per commitments made to residents to reduce traffic into the neighborhoods. Paving the gap provides construction access to developments, and for completion of a Voluntary Clean-up Plan (VCUP) of an undocumented trash site. There will be no sidewalks placed during Phase 1.
Phase 1 anticipated schedule
(based on weather and construction circumstances)
- Construction plans: In development now
- Contractor selection: Early to mid-summer 2017
- Construction start: Late summer/early fall 2017
- Anticipated completion: Late spring/early summer 2018
Property impacts:
The design of the road was refined to follow the existing topography, and strategically aligns such that it limits impacts to the adjacent floodplain, neighborhoods and property. There are a small number of properties and/or easements required. Property owners potentially impacted by the project have been contacted by the project team. For the few full properties being acquired by the City, purchase agreements are in place and the standard relocation process (based on the Uniform Relocation Act) is underway. Removal of those structures is anticipated to take place during Phase 1.
Phase 2 - Completion of the Centennial Boulevard extension
Phase 2 of the project entails construction of the Centennial Boulevard roadway extension from Van Buren Street to Interstate-25. After completion of the VCUP, this phase will include earthwork, utility and drainage infrastructure, roadway paving, curbing, pedestrian facilities, lighting, and landscaping for that segment. It also includes finishing details (final striping, signage, pedestrian facilities, lighting, etc.) on the Phase 1 segment north of Van Buren Street. Phase 2 represents approximately 90 percent of the overall project work required.
Phase 2 anticipated schedule:
- VCUP completion by others: Estimated Dec. 31, 2018 - The City can begin Phase 2 construction after completion of the VCUP, with anticipated completion of Phase 2 within two years of starting. The date could move up based on completion of the VCUP.
- Tentative construction start: Early 2019
- Tentative construction completion: Late 2020
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Project Team Obtains Valuable
Neighborhood Feedback
A series of neighborhood meetings and workshops took place throughout the design phase of the Centennial Boulevard extension project. Public input into various aspects of the project included landscaping, lighting, bike path, recreational connections to the trail/park/open space, aesthetic/retaining wall treatments, and other aspects of the project that reflect priorities of local neighborhood residents, area businesses, the City, and other users of the road based on traffic demands, multimodal access, water quality, stormwater drainage and aesthetics. CLICK HERE to read more.
Property owners public meeting held last summer at Academy for Advanced and Creative School summary, presentation materials and Frequently Asked Questions are posted to the project website at:
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Landscape Concept Revised
Based on Public Input
Prior to beginning the public process for the road extension, landscaping designs were more formal in nature, with lines and rows of bushes and trees. Based on input from the public, "less formal" the landscape designs were revised to have a more natural appearance.
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Illustration depict a more natural look with clusters of trees spilling out from the open space.
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CLICK HERE to view a Conceptual Digital Simulation of the revised Centennial Boulevard streetscape design.
Other aspects the Centennial Boulevard Extension Project include:
- Water quality: A Full Spectrum Detention Pond will be constructed at Sondermann Park to protect Mesa Creek and avoid future erosion by accommodating a 100-year storm event. The goal is a slower release of storm water runoff (over a 72 hour timeframe) designed to reduce pollutant loading as well as channel erosion and enlargement.
- Four-foot-wide on-street bike lanes on both sides of Centennial Boulevard.
- Sidewalks on both sides of Centennial Boulevard. The west sidewalk will be a 10' multi-use path, to better accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists who choose not to use the on-street bike lane. This will connect the Mesa Springs Greenway to Sondermann Park and Broadview Open Space, while allowing for future connections at Fillmore Street. The project will reroute the existing Park maintenance access road at the west end of Fontanero Street to Espanola Street.
- A trail up to Fillmore Street will provide a safe route for students to Coronado High School.
- Street lighting on the outsides of the roadway angled down and toward the medians, based on public input. Landscaping and retaining wall treatments, and curb and gutter.
- The only Mesa Springs neighborhood streets that will connect into Centennial Boulevard will be Chestnut Street, Van Buren Street, and Mesa Valley Road. To avoid cut through traffic into the neighborhood while construction is underway, the Van Buren and Mesa Valley connections will not be opened up until the extension of Centennial Blvd. has been completed.
- Traffic signals warranted for this project are at Chestnut Street, and at the Interstate-25 ramp intersections with Fontanero Street. There is potential in the future for additional intersections to become signalized depending on development of the area, but not with this project as traffic projections do not warrant it at this time.
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