 2C-funded concrete work this spring included Bijou and Walnut streets. Next (but not yet scheduled) will be new pavement on Walnut between Bijou and Boulder streets. In the background is the Lord of Glory Church. Westside Pioneer photo
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The total of 55 street segments includes 12 on the Westside.
The term, “road tax,” is a nickname for Ballot Issue 2C, which city voters overwhelmingly approved last November.
A prominent Westside 2C locale will be the Garden of the Gods, which is set for all five streets inside it to be repaved.
“It's the crown jewel of Colorado Springs,” said David Scalfri, Public Works' manager for contracted programs. “The last time its streets were overlaid was 2001. They're old and cracking and bad on the edges. So it's a good time to get in there and cap them off.”
To avoid traffic conflicts - particularly with tourists - the Garden's paving work will occur at night, he added.
2C established a .62 percent sales tax over a five-year span, dedicated to road improvements. In all, 35 Westside street segments have been earmarked for paving overlays among 286 citywide.
Changes from the original 2016 list resulted from post-election discussions with Colorado Springs Utilities, according to Scalfri. Such scrutiny is “better for all of us,” he said, by avoiding past scenarios where Utilities has cut into newly paved streets because of insufficient advance communication.
The changes do not mean, Scalfri emphasized, that any of the previously announced street segments will be eliminated. The city feels legally bound because those locations were specified in the City Council resolution last August that put the road tax on the ballot. “We just reshuffled the deck on our five-year list,” he elaborated. “The ones originally planned for 2016 will be deferred for later years.”
 Workers with Trax Construction, a city contractor, spread concrete at 21st Street and Naegele Road. The work precedes the paving of Naegele, scheduled later this year between 21st and 25th streets, in the first year of the city's five-year "road tax." Westside Pioneer photo
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2C also involves concrete work - sidewalks, curbs and/or gutters (at least on the streets that have them - 2C is only fixing what's there, not adding to it). Such work has already started in several locations. Because asphalt requires warmer weather than concrete, the paving had to wait until May, according to Scalfri.
What could be confusing to the public is the city policy that before streets can be repaved any concrete amenities need to be upgraded. But the paving doesn't always follow immediately. As examples, some of the segments on the 2016 road-tax list had their concrete upgraded last year, such as 19th Street between King and Mesa Road; while other segments, such as Walnut Street between Bijou and Boulder streets, are being concreted this year… yet their paving isn't planned until 2017 or later.
Scalfri explained that a city goal is to coordinate with its contractors to finish the project concrete work “as fast as we can,” eventually getting a year ahead, which will allow more flexibility on paving priorities.
Here are the currently listed Westside street segments for 2016 (in alphabetical order):
· 19th Street, from King Street to Mesa Road.
· 21st Street, from Cimarron Street to Lower Gold Camp Road.
· Beckers Lane (Garden of the Gods), from Garden Lane to park entrance.
· Bijou Street, from Chestnut Street to I-25 ramp.
· Garden Drive (Garden of the Gods), from Juniper Way Loop to park entrance.
· Garden Lane (Garden of the Gods), the loop from Garden Drive to Garden Drive.
· Gateway Road (Garden of the Gods), from 30th Street to Juniper Way Loop.
· Glenn Street, from 19th Street to Stepping Stones Way.
· Juniper Way Loop (Garden of the Gods), from Gateway Road to Gateway Road.
· Naegele Road, from 21st Street to concrete bridge at 25th Street.
· Ridge Road, from Pikes Peak Avenue to Garden of the Gods park entrance.
· Wheeler Avenue, from Westend Avenue to 21st Street.
Westside Pioneer article