Photo courtesy of Josh Russell, WW Clyde
(L-R): WW Clyde Project Manager Brooke Miller, WW Clyde Area Manager Cameron Thompson, CDOT Region 2 Transportation Director Shane Ferguson, Federal Highway Administration Area Director John Cater, District 9 Colorado Transportation Commissioner Hannah Parsons, Peterson Space Force Base Delta 1 Commander Colonel Ken Klock, Colorado Springs City Council President Randy Helm and Colorado State Representative Regina English break ground on the Colorado Highway 21 Powers Boulevard and Airport Road Diverging Diamond Interchange Project.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) began a $46 million effort in late July to build a more efficient intersection in Colorado Springs at the junction of Colorado Highway 21/South Powers Boulevard and Airport Road, the state agency announced.
Though work began at the interchange in June, a ceremonial groundbreaking was held on July 25 at the site with many local and state elected leaders, as well as CDOT officials, in attendance.
The state transportation agency said the work is designed to be a major makeover for the intersection.
Over the next two years, Powers and Airport will be transformed from a typical four-way intersection into a diverging diamond interchange (DDI), similar to the ones that have been built at nearby West Fillmore Street and Interstate 25, and the junction of Research Parkway and Powers Boulevard.
Photo courtesy of Colorado Department of Transportation
A DDI directs traffic to the opposite side of the road across an interchange so that vehicles have unimpeded movement onto ramps. As a result, left-turn movements which are a challenge with standard four-way interchanges are eliminated, reducing delays, conflict points and wrong-way entry to ramps.
The Powers Boulevard/Airport Road DDI is the third such interchange in the Pikes Peak region, according to CDOT.
Plans call for bridge and ramp construction, embankment placement, concrete paving, overhead sign structure installation, new traffic signal systems and permanent water quality ponds to be built as part of the new DDI.
"With more than 50,000 vehicles traveling Powers Boulevard each day here at Airport Road, along with the Powers Corridor planning project, the need for an interchange at this location was indicated and was added to our 10-year priority project list," CDOT Region 2 Transportation Director Shane Ferguson said. "This diverging diamond interchange will address congestion, improve safety and add multimodal facilities that will allow for a safer and more comfortable travel experience for cars, pedestrians and cyclists."
The building site is just west of both Peterson Space Force Base and Colorado Springs Airport.
In speaking with KKTV in Colorado Springs, Ferguson told the station that he was confident the intersection makeover will significantly improve traffic flow at the notoriously busy corridor.
"As you have more traffic, you have more need for a larger number of cars going through the same area, so we're trying to stay on top of the Powers corridor," he added. "[The goal is to] keep traffic flowing into Peterson and keep people flowing on Airport."
W.W. Clyde Construction, headquartered in Orem, Utah, is the prime contractor for the Colorado Springs road project.
"In 2019, CDOT embarked on an ambitious effort to set transportation plans and priorities — the 10-Year Strategic Plan — and that plan was adopted in 2020 and updated annually," said Hannah Parsons, the commissioner of CDOT's District 9. "Constructing the Powers Boulevard and Airport Road interchange is an important part of this plan."
The transportation agency said it was cognizant of how many people in the region use the intersection each day.
"The new interchange will be built north of the existing signalized intersection without disturbing current traffic patterns during most of the construction," Ferguson said. "This is one of the region's busiest intersections and keeping traffic moving outside of Peterson Space Force Base is essential."
CDOT's Colorado Highway 21/Powers Boulevard and Airport Road online project page notes that the new construction will benefit the public by:
- Enhancing safety and mobility for drivers.
- Improving traffic flow and visibility.
- Providing a smoother driving surface.
- Increasing the longevity of the highway.
- Improving pedestrian crossing safety with easier access to medians.
"Projects like this support the economy and economic development and they improve peoples' lives by allowing them to get where they want to go safely and efficiently," added John Cater, Colorado Division director of the Federal Highway Administration.
Also on hand for the project's groundbreaking was Colorado Springs City Council President Randy Helms, who said, "What a great day to gather and celebrate the start of a project linking drivers to a major east-west corridor and connecting Peterson Space Force Base to the great city of Colorado Springs."
The new DDI at Powers Boulevard and Airport Road is expected to be completed in late 2026, CDOT noted.
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