Rex and Meridian Project Finished Early    

By Erin Malcolm 

On Nov. 21, El Paso County officials, construction team members and area residents gathered on the corner of Rex and Meridian roads for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the improvement project at the intersection.  

The crew began construction during the week of Feb. 19, according to a February email statement released by the county. After about nine months of navigating barricades, reduced speeds and detours through the construction zone, commuters are using the fully operational intersection again. With $9.9 million worth of upgrades, it is a welcome sight that originally wasn’t expected until next year.   

Scott Anderson, El Paso County communications and public relations manager, told The New Falcon Herald, “Initially, when the project was scheduled, it was supposed to be done in the spring of 2025, so we are four or five months ahead of schedule, which is just incredible.”  

We really expect this to reduce the number of crashes, which is obviously one of the most important things: safety for this community. The expected reduction in collisions here is about 300%, and we’re really excited about that. 

– Carrie Geitner

County engineer Josh Palmer said at the ceremony that when he placed a hard deadline on the project team, they “instead of responding with questions and excuses, responded with commitment and determination to get it done not only on time but ahead of time.”      

One of the major reasons for the early finish was the re-phasing organized between the contractor Elite Surface Infrastructure and utility companies, as explained at the ceremony by Dan Gerhard, principal engineer and construction manager. To drastically increase efficiency, ESI pivoted to work in other areas while utilities were being relocated. Gerhard said, “It saved us time and saved the county money.” 

In addition to moving utilities, other project improvements included installing a traffic signal, increasing sight distance by softening hills, widening Meridian Road to four lanes and adding turn lanes on Rex Road, full-depth road reconstruction and ditch and stormwater improvements. 

While the traffic signal at the intersection might be one of the most obvious improvements commuters notice, some of the most crucial changes aren’t as apparent. 

For example, drainage improvements were significant and consisted of redefining the roadside ditches, upsizing conveyance infrastructure and upgrading the culverts to reinforced concrete pipe, with 50 to 100 years of life, Palmer said during the ceremony.  

Another major improvement made to extend the longevity of the roadway is the full-depth reconstruction, which was done by removing the old asphalt and rebuilding the road starting from the subgrade, with the installation of a new base material below the asphalt. Gerhard said to the crowd, “That, in the short term, means a lot less maintenance. You won’t see us out here doing maintenance because it is a brand new road. It also improves the long-term stability and health of the roadway itself.” 

Perhaps the most notable improvement discussed at the ceremony was safety. 

Sgt. Jason Haag of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office told The New Falcon Herald at the event, “This was a bad intersection for crashes. There was a lot going on at this intersection that made it dangerous and so this is phenomenal. I’m not an engineer. I can’t give you stats. But I think it’s going to be awesome.” 

Statistics shared by El Paso County Commissioner Carrie Geitner during the ceremony confirmed Haag’s instincts. Geitner said, “We really expect this to reduce the number of crashes, which is obviously one of the most important things: safety for this community. The expected reduction in collisions here is about 300%, and we’re really excited about that.” 

Although, no matter how many improvements are made to an intersection, those behind the wheel still play a vital role in road safety measures. 

Contrary to remarks made by the county project members to thank drivers for their patience and consideration for safety during construction, deputy Josh Offutt of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office told the NFH that there was still frequent and excessive speeding near the intersection throughout the project. Offutt said, “My fastest ticket coming down the hill in the construction zone was 81 mph in a 35 mph. There were a lot of high speeds, so we made our presence known enough to keep people safe.” 

With well-being at the top of mind and millions of dollars of thoughtfully designed safety buffers in place as the roadway operates normally again, the words of Palmer when he presented the project to the public a year ago still ring true: “You can’t engineer out bad behavior.”