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Storm-drain work requires full closure of 26th from highway to Cucharras

      
A crew with Lucky Dog, an on-call contractor for Colorado Springs Public Works, works on a storm-drain project on 26th Street near Vermijo Street June 12. In the background is Highway 24. The street had to be closed both ways between the highway and Cucharras Street for the project.
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26th Street was closed from Highway 24 to Cucharras Street starting Sunday, June 11 for a project to clear out and line an underground storm pipe that drains into Fountain Creek.
       An on-site inspector with Colorado Springs Public Works said the upgrade should be finished by mid-week, which will allow the street to reopen.
       Lucky Dog, an on-call contractor for the city, is doing the work. Relining older pipes lets the city delay replacing them for up to 50 years, according to product specifications.
       The inspector said the 26th Street need was recently identified by Public Works. He said the 24-inch-diameter storm line between the creek and Colorado Avenue
26th Street was also blocked completely next to Bott Park June 12. In this case, it was for a Colorado Springs Utilities water-line project.
Westside Pioneer photo
dates back to the 1940s or '50s. Additional improvements on that segment, including manhole replacements, will occur in the coming weeks under a separate contract, he pointed out.
       The storm-drain work is part of an effort by the city as well as Colorado Springs Utilities to complete underground repairs before a full paving job through the 2C “road tax” is accomplished on 26th between Colorado Avenue and Lower Gold Camp Road, tentatively in August.
       A different city contractor had made repairs on and around the 26th Sreet bridge over Fountain Creek last fall. That project ended by paving over the bridge and up to Cucharras. However, city officials have since clarified that the paving was only a thin, temporary overlay.
       In a related note, another segment of 26th Street - off Hagerman Street, next to Bott Park - was also fully closed June 12 and is likely to remain so for much of the week. A Colorado Springs Utilities crew needed to dig across the street to reconnect nearby residences to a water main which they are replacing there. Like the storm-drain project, the water-line work is also preliminary to the above-mentioned, upcoming 2C paving work on 26th.

Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 6/12/17, updated 6/13/17; Projects: Flood Control)

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