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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.
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City of Colorado Springs
Aaron Egbert, P.E.
Project Manager
(719) 385-5465
Mesa Springs Community Association
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Project Information
The City of Colorado Springs continues to work on a project to extend Centennial Boulevard from Fillmore Street to the I-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 Street and Chestnut Street. The new connection will enhance access to future and existing residential developments, recreational areas, and the Veterans Affairs Clinic; improving quality of life for west side residents.
Phase 1 - Complete. Dwire Earthmoving and Excavating built the last part of the segment from Fillmore to Van Buren in 2019. The City has said it will not open any of the extension to motorists until it's built all the way through.
Phase 2 - the more significant aspect of the project (90 percent) involves construction of the Centennial Boulevard roadway extension from Van Buren Street to Interstate-25. A Voluntary Clean-Up (VCUP) by the owner of property long used by others as an unauthorized land fill area is close to completion. The road extension includes earthwork, utility and drainage infrastructure, roadway paving, curbing, pedestrian facilities, lighting, and landscaping for that segment. It also includes finishing details on Phase 1 segment north of Van Buren Street (final striping, signage, pedestrian facilities, and lighting).
Construction Schedule:
- Overhead electric transmission lines moved underground: Complete
- Contractor selection by the City: Mar./Apr. 2021
- MVS property grading work 7th Street to the northwest: Completion May/June 2021
- Private property owner's voluntary clean-up: Completion Feb./Mar. 2021
- Road project construction start: Spring/Summer 2021
- Road project construction completion: 2023
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Long-Awaited Construction of
Centennial Boulevard Extension
Set for Construction this Summer
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Updated Corridor Map -- CLICK HERE to see enlarged map
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Construction of the Centennial Boulevard Extension to improve connectivity and mobility options to northwest Colorado Springs is set to begin this spring/summer 2021. This phase of construction includes the more significant aspect of the project from Van Buren Street to Interstate-25 including earthwork, utility and drainage infrastructure, roadway paving, curbing, pedestrian facilities, lighting, and landscaping. It also includes finishing details on the first phase of the project completed last year north of Van Buren Street (final striping, signage, pedestrian facilities, and lighting).
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Beginning in March, the public may notice trucks and graders doing earthwork along the alignment where the new road is planned. This is grading work the MVS property owner is doing to consolidate the undocumented landfill. Their next phase will be grading from the MVS property down to approximately 7th/ Fontanero streets. The road construction project is not scheduled to begin until this summer.
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The extension of Centennial Boulevard has been planned by the City of Colorado Springs since 1985. The corridor extension was originally planned 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, and the impacts of a principal arterial were reconsidered, the City reclassified the Centennial Boulevard Extension as a four-lane minor arterial. Due to increased development in the area and the growing need for this connection, the project has become a high priority and an "A" list project for the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) program.
According to City of Colorado Springs Project Manager Aaron Egbert, "The biggest challenge with the project has been the Voluntary Clean-up (VCUP) work required by the private property owner MVS Development, LLC." In July 2018, MVS reached an agreement with the City of Colorado Springs, PPRTA and Colorado Springs Utilities that it would complete the VCUP restoration of an 18-acre informal dumping ground on its property by capping it with approximately 12 feet of new soil. Egbert stated "It took time to solve the necessary clean-up problem with the developer, but at the same time MVS was able to take advantage of having earthmoving equipment on hand, and so sub-graded the road extension right-of-way through its property."
The biggest future challenge for the project, according to Egbert, will be renaming the Fontenaro/I-25 interchange to Centennial Boulevard/I-25 Interchange since the road extension will create a direct connection of Centennial to I-25. This requires readdressing the Colorado Springs Utilities maintenance facility and requires all new signage on I-25.
 "The City has tremendous appreciation for the community and neighbors and their patience throughout all phases of the planning and design phases. We understand how difficult it is to wait for a project to start," said Egbert. "The communication has been open and honest between all the stakeholders and the public. We took a lot of time to make sure we were reaching out to the neighbors and other interested organizations to communicate the plans and incorporate as much of their input as possible into the design." Based upon community input the City and design consultants recognized the importance of strategically located pedestrian connections from the neighborhood to open space and Sondermann Park. The connection will include a pedestrian-activated signal. Also based on public input, the landscape plan for the median will be a natural look with bands/clumps of trees. The road section will include on-street bike lanes and a 10-foot multi-purpose trail on the west side that will connect the neighborhoods to the Legacy Loop Plaza and trail connection enabling neighborhood residents to be more connected to downtown.
 The new Centennial road connection will be recessed below grade greatly reducing both noise and visual impacts. The segment south of the MVS development will have wider medians. The design team worked to match the grade to the existing topology and fit the road into the valley. City engineers walked with the neighbors to show them exactly where the road would be placed to help the neighbors visualize the project. "I believe this project is a perfect example of how the City collaborated and worked with the local community members to create a design that will be efficient, safer and visually appealing," said Egbert.
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Look for Information on Our Up-Coming Virtual Public Information Meeting
The public is invited to attend a virtual public information meeting in early March (including
video and/or phone call-in opportunities to participate). Another eNewsletter will go out in mid-February with the date/time and other information. To be notified of the meeting in advance, send an email to Monica@bachmanpr.com asking to be added to the notification list.
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Frequently Asked Questions
CLICK HERE to view Frequently Asked Questions and scroll down.
Q: Will the new Centennial Blvd. road extension go through Sondermann Park? A: The road extension goes through a small section at the northeast corner of Sondermann Park, and the detention pond for the project is located on park property. This has been closely coordinated with City Parks and the Catamount Institute throughout the design process. The project design team worked very hard to avoid impacts to the park and creek. Q: Will the new road extension cut off access from the Mesa Springs neighborhood into the open space? A: There won't be access during construction for safety reasons, but once the road construction project is completed, a pedestrian-activated traffic signal will be installed. Pedestrians will be able to push the button to change the signal light to red so that they can safely cross over Centennial Boulevard to the open space.
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