The El Paso County Department of Transportation has plans to make Stapleton Road a major arterial link between Briargate Parkway and Interstate 25 to the west, and Judge Orr and Curtis roads to the east.Currently, Stapleton Road extends west from Towner Avenue, crosses Meridian Road and deadends at Meridian Ranch Road.Connecting Briargate Parkway to Stapleton Road is likely to take several years. “It’s really all dependent on what happens with development,” said Paul Danley from the El Paso County Development Services Department. “The county does not have a project that’s going to push that road through any time soon. One big piece is in Wolf Ranch west of Black Forest Road, and a lot of that is in the later phases of their development.”On the Falcon side, the property west of the existing high school is on hold right now.”Together, Marksheffel-Woodmen Investments and Morley-Bentley Investments own more than 1,000 acres between Towner Avenue and Vollmer Road, where a future Stapleton Road might push through.John McCarty, director of the El Paso County Department of Transportation, said the first two lanes for the segment between Meridian Ranch and Eastonville roads will be built by the developer. “The developer is moving along right now,” McCarty said. “A PPRTA (Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority) project for $1.6 million will add two lanes to that segment for a total of four lanes. That’s programmed to happen in 2008 and 2009.”Pushing Stapleton Road from Eastonville Road through to Highway 24 is a PPRTA priority A project. PPRTA projects are referenced as A, B or C, with A projects as the first ones funded. B projects are funded after the A projects, and C projects are the last to be funded, depending on available monies.Completing the connection of Eastonville Road to Judge Orr Road is likely to take some time. “There is a commercial portion of Four Way Ranch near that future intersection,” Danley said. “It really just depends on the development schedule as to when that is going to go through.”Extending Stapleton Road from Highway 24 to Curtis Road also is listed as a priority A project on the PPRTA 2005-2010 multi-year budget. McCarty said the project is currently budgeted at $1.6 million.McCarty recently held meetings with 20 to 30 property owners in the area of Highway 24, Judge Orr Road and Curtis Road. He said the meeting was prompted by several small projects in the area recently submitted to the county’s development services department.”One submittal was the division of a 40-acre parcel into three residential lots, and the other was the conversion of an existing building to a workout gym,” McCarty said.”That area does not have publicly maintained roads, so we wanted them to know they are responsible for making a public road system. We reviewed the local road network concept for that area with the owners. We wanted to let them know that as this area redevelops, we’ll be happy to provide county maintenance if the roads are dedicated to the county and meet county standards.”He also said the Stapleton extension from Highway 24 south to Curtis Road is programmed for 2011, with construction to “probably start” in 2012. “We are not buying anything for the local road system,” he said. “The only land we would buy is the land where the actual Stapleton Road would go.”Peter Hagen owns one of the properties that Stapleton Road would intersect when it connects to Curtis Road. He is looking forward to the extension but is concerned that the intersection at Stapleton Road and Highway 24 is too close to the bridge. Hagen said he thought a four-lane bridge would need to be built.Also listed on the PPRTA priority B list is an upgrade of Curtis Road from Judge Orr Road to State Highway 94. This project is budgeted at $12 million.No matter the priorities, it’s going to take time to get the projects up and running.”Five years from now, it could be really different, but we’re in a slump with growth right now, so it could be a while before the development projects materialize,” Danley said.
