21st Street/Fountain Creek work kicks off RTA bridge repairs
Douglas Creek/Centennial Boulevard upcoming

       Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) money began finding its way to Westside bridges this week.
       The 21st Street bridge over Fountain Creek was the first among 3 on the Westside - 58 in all citywide - that are scheduled for upgrades this year with RTA maintenance funds.
       There is no emergency behind the 21st Street bridge being first on the list; it just happened to work out most favorably on the schedule for the contractor (TLM Construc-tors), according to Jeffrey Jurew, RTA project manager for bridge rehabilitation. Nor will the 47-year-old bridge receive any new amenities in the roughly $42,000 project (still no sidewalk on its east side).
       But, like other basically safe bridges that had not received a lot of attention until RTA money became available this year, the bridge will get improvements to “enhance public safety and extend the service life,” Jurew said.
       Work includes upgrading its structural integrity, improving a 30-inch-wide storm drain, removing graffiti, patching asphalt, eliminating the tripping hazard on the existing bridge sidewalk, sandblasting, power washing, painting, concrete sealing and installing a slotted rail terminal (a guard-rail extension beyond the bridge), according to the project information.
       The other two Westside bridges scheduled for repairs this year are South Douglas Creek at Centennial Boulevard (about $22,000) and North Douglas Creek at Garden of the Gods Road (about $14,000). Work at South Douglas is due to get underway next week, with North Douglas probably not occurring until mid-October, Jurew said.
       The South Douglas bridge will get a guard rail along with a slotted rail terminal, concrete patching, waterproofing sealer application, a new pedestrian handrail along the west side, chain-link fence installation at the southeast end, sandblasting and painting of the existing handrail along the east side, and debris and silt removal from the downstream channel.
       The North Douglas bridge will see these improvements: new guard rail on both sides, three slotted rail terminals and miscellaneous grading and relocation of the Jersey barriers.
       Approximately $1.65 million from the RTA is available this year to begin repairing and maintaining bridges in the city.
       In other RTA Westside maintenance… Paving of various alleys is scheduled this week between Uintah Street and Colorado Avenue from 17th to 21st Street.

Westside Pioneer article