Colorado Springs Councilwoman Nancy Henjum and public works staff will lead a town hall this month to discuss a potential feasibility study that would address mobility across the city’s east and west transportation corridors.
The proposed study would consider widening Fillmore Street as well as potentially extending Constitution Avenue from Union Boulevard to Interstate 25, or maintaining the road’s configuration while expecting increased traffic and travel delays in the future, according to a city news release.
A “robust public process planned with a future feasibility study” will help officials develop and analyze other strategies, the release said.
The town hall is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 21 at the Stratton Elementary School gym, 2460 Paseo Road.
The city’s desire to potentially extend Constitution Avenue to I-25 is not new. Officials have said the project could help ease congestion on other east-west corridors, like Fillmore Street. But it could mean impacts to existing homes and businesses, City Engineer Gayle Sturdivant said in June.
Extending Constitution Avenue in particular has caused concern among residents who have more than once objected to the noise, traffic and pollution it could bring to historic neighborhoods. City officials floated the proposal in the summer, and brought forth a similar proposal in the early 2000s.
The city last year wanted to fund a study on Constitution’s extension to the highway using a portion of the Pikes Peak Regional Transportation Authority’s 1-cent sales tax that finances regional and multimodal road projects.
Because of residents’ concerns, officials decided not to pursue the feasibility study as part of the list of projects voters considered Nov. 8 when they approved the extension of the PPRTA sales tax for another decade.
Officials want residents’ input at the town hall this month to “minimize and mitigate impacts on existing neighborhoods,” the release said. The city will include resident feedback in the project list on ConnectCOS, a citywide assessment of Colorado Springs’ transportation system.
The city has not identified funding or a timeline for east-to-west transportation improvements, the release said.