Woodmen Road construction update

On March 22, the Federal Highway Commission issued a FONSI (Finding of No Significant Impact) report for the Woodmen Road Improvement Project, clearing the way for the El Paso County Department of Transportation to convert Woodmen Road from two lanes to four lanes between Powers Boulevard and Highway 24.According to the county’s Web site, “El Paso County and the City of Colorado Springs have identified Woodmen Road as one of the most important east-west corridors in the Pikes Peak region.”Andre Brackin, capital programs division manager for DOT, said a few issues need to be resolved before the county can advertise for construction bids. The county has contacted the owners of five small parcels for right-of-ways and easements, Brackin said. Developers of properties within the corridor need to make right-of-way donations, and some utilities need to be relocated, he added.”Plans and specifications are scheduled to be complete by June 4,” Brackin said.John McCarty, DOT director, said he hopes to advertise the project in early June, take bids in July, award a contract in late July or early August and have a contractor on the ground in early September. McCarty said he expects construction to take 18 months.McCarty said the improvements include

• A full complement of turn lanes, acceleration and deceleration lands and curbs and gutters in the section between Meridian Road and Highway 24
• New signals at Meridian Road, McLaughlin Road and Tutt Boulevard; Each new signal will include a video camera, which, McCarty said, is the county’s new standard. According to the county’s Web site, the cameras replace in-pavement magnetic loops for signal control so the signal can adjust its timing to best serve most vehicles.
• Bike lanes: McCarty said because of the paved width of the new road, there will be room for bicycles. The county also will use grant money to improve the current frontage road for the bicyclists. The plan includes a new bridge between Black Forest Road and Marksheffel Road, which will give bicyclists using the frontage road on the north side of Woodmen Road a way to connect to bicycle lanes being built on the south side of Woodmen Road, west of Powers Boulevard.

The county’s map of the project notes where the future Banning Lewis Parkway will cross Woodmen Road. “It’s where the toll road people are talking about converting Banning Lewis [Parkway] into a toll road to go from the north end of the town,” McCarty said. “It would come down from Powers somehow and then go south and curve around to the airport on the south end. It is several years off on the Banning Lewis schedule, and we will not be building it.”The section of Woodmen Road that’s currently between Black Forest Road and Marksheffel Road will become a frontage road … (which) will give Horseshoe Road and Nebraska, Idaho, Maine, Utah and Nevada lanes access to Woodmen Road. In that section, four entirely new lanes will be constructed.”McCarty said construction should have little impact on traffic. The stretch between Black Forest and Marksheffel roads will remain intact as two lanes, and the entire stretch between Marksheffel and Meridian roads remains intact, he said. “And all the work will be done to the north side of the current Woodmen Road,” McCarty added.He said the biggest impact on traffic will occur in the city portion between Black Forest Road and Powers Boulevard.