Mesa Springs CDBG work may start in August
Mesa Springs will be the recipient of at least five civic projects this year, as city-contracted crews use Community Development
Block Grant Program (CDBG) money to complete the Westside neighborhood's sidewalk network.
The tasks will be funded with up to $100,000 in federal CDBG money that the city authorized for Mesa Springs this year as one of its seven Neighborhood Strategy Areas (NSAs), according to Brad Lovell, who organizes NSA development work. Originally planned for early summer, the work now is not expected to get into the ground until August or Septemember, Lovell said. City engineers are needed to work up the designs, and they have been busy on other projects, he noted. The CDBG priorities were determined through meetings with the Mesa Springs Community Association in recent months. Association members helped finalize the choices at the April association meeting, which was attended by about 25 residents, according to George Gravenstein, association president. “The principal concern of the neighborhood is completing the existing sidewalk network within the neighborhood,” Lovell said afterward. “This project includes work in areas to complete stretches of sidewalk.” The five sites are: · Mesa Valley Road, from Chestnut Street to Melany Lane. · North side of Harrison Street, from Chestnut to Green Ridge Drive. · Two missing sections on Parker Street. · South side of Taylor Street, where sidewalk is missing between Parker Street and Sage Street. · North side of Columbia St. between Cooper Avenue and Chestnut. Four lower-priority projects are tentatively slated for this year, should there be enough money left after the five sidewalk jobs. These are: · Completion of sidewalk on the west side of the 2900 block of Chestnut to Fillmore Street (in conjunction with plans for the future new Fillmore/I-25 interchange). · Installation of sidewalk, curb and gutter along one block (both sides) of Chestnut between Columbia and Buena Ventura streets to provide for pedestrian use, improved drainage, and better parking. · Completion of sidewalk, curb and gutter from Columbia to the southern termination of Chestnut. · Additional pedestrian improvements, including western portions of Jefferson Street and the addition of sidewalk on both sides of many streets. Vermijo plans finalized… The other Westside CDBG project, on Vermijo Street, began in April with a Colorado Springs Utilities water-main replacement. The CDBG work will involve sidewalk, curb and gutter as needed in the 2300 to 2500 blocks. According to Lovell this week, “Plans are being finalized right now,” with the project to go out to bids this month. Utilities crews have continued to work in the 2500 block because of an issue with a gas main. The street needs to be lowered to gain a proper crown for the curb and gutter; a recent question was whether the gas main will also need to be lowered to keep it from being too close to the new road surface, Lovell said. Westside Pioneer article |