Resurfacing schedule change for Cimarron and St. Vincent Drive Bridges

The resurfacing work planned for the Cimarron St. Bridge has been moved from tomorrow to Saturday. The Cimarron St. Bridge will be closed to all traffic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The resurfacing work on the Vincent St. Bridge has been moved up one day to tomorrow instead of Friday. The Vincent St. Bridge will be closed tomorrow (Thursday) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Detours will be posted.

Cimarron Bridge demolition underway; reconstruction project to be bid out

Demolition work on the south half of the Cimarron Bridge began on February 26^th and will continue for several weeks. The traveling public will notice lane restrictions on Cimarron Street during the week of March 5 – 9, and the bridge will be closed completely over the weekend of March 9 – 12 for the removal of girders. City Council has authorized free on-street parking on Saturday, March 10^th, in Old Colorado City and Downtown Colorado Springs, as a way of partially rewarding the public for its patience during this closure. Several alternate route suggestions can be found online on www.SpringsGov.com.

Rockrimmon Constructors, the company working on COSMIX, will perform the demolition work on the south half. However the City has decided to bid out the remaining work, which includes final design and reconstruction of the entire bridge, after failing to come to a price agreement with Rockrimmon for the remaining phases of the project.

“CDOT and Rockrimmon Constructors, the COSMIX design-build firm, have been very helpful to the City by getting the preliminary design accomplished, and by integrating the demolition of the south side of the Cimarron Bridge into the demolition schedule of the Bijou Bridges,” said City Engineer Cam McNair. “We were hoping to be able to add the final design and the entire bridge replacement project to COSMIX in order to speed up that process; however, the budget for the project will not allow us to proceed with Rockrimmon Constructors. The fiscally-responsible decision for us is to bid out the bridge reconstruction project, even though this will delay the schedule by several months.”

The plan still calls for reconstruction of the south half of the bridge first. The new portion will then be open to traffic while the north half is reconstructed. This phasing will allow the bridge to remain open to traffic throughout construction. The City is hoping to have the design completed by late summer 2007, the south half of the bridge completed and open by spring 2008, and the north half completed by fall of 2008. A more detailed replacement schedule will be determined once the design is finalized and a construction contractor has been selected. The City will do everything possible to expedite the process as much as the budget will allow.

The existing north side of the Cimarron Bridge is holding up very well since the “portals” were constructed to keep trucks off of the bridge. The City’s bridge engineer has been monitoring the condition on a daily basis, and the City’s structural consultant has been inspecting the bridge weekly. This will continue until the south half of the bridge is totally reconstructed and traffic can be shifted onto the new eastbound spans.

The bridge replacement is being paid for by the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority. A total of $8M is budgeted for the complete Cimarron Bridge replacement project. The City has spent or committed a portion of that for emergency repairs, surveying and preliminary design, demolition of the south half, relocation of railroad communication lines, and other anticipated utility, right-of-way, and project management costs. Approximately $6M is available for the final design and bridge reconstruction. The PPRTA is also funding the City’s portion of the Bijou Street Bridges and the Corporate Drive Extension, which totals approximately $10M. Those projects will be completed by Rockrimmon Constructors as part of COSMIX and are scheduled to be completed in October of this year.

The Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority was formed when voters in Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Green Mountain Falls and El Paso County approved a one percent sales tax in November of 2004 to address infrastructure and transit needs in the region. The tax revenue is divided into three categories: 55% capital improvements, 35% maintenance, and 10% transit. The capital portion of the tax will sunset in 10 years. For more information or to schedule interviews, please contact Mary Scott or Carrie McCausland in Public Communications at (719) 385-5906.

Project Details:

The Cimarron Street Bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and Conejos Street was originally built in 1958 by the Colorado Department of Highways. In 1992, ownership of the bridge transferred from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to the City as part of the Highway 24 Bypass Project. Serious foundation problems were discovered in 2002 based on a bi-annual inspection of the bridge by LONCO, Inc., a CDOT Bridge Consultant. City Council authorized emergency funding to accomplish repairs in 2002-2004, totaling approximately $800,000.

The Cimarron Bridge was included in the designated list of capital improvement projects for the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) approved by voters in November 2004. The original schedule for replacement of the bridge was for design/construction in 2009/2010. The replacement schedule was originally set to match the replacement of the I-25/Cimarron Interchange.

On August 9, 2006, a hole in the concrete deck on the south ½ (eastbound lanes) of the Cimarron Street Bridge was reported and that portion of the roadway was closed to traffic. After detailed inspection of the bridge, emergency repairs were made to the north ½ of the bridge so traffic could continue to cross the bridge in one lane in each direction while under load restrictions of 5 tons maximum. The significant deterioration of the bridge deck has accelerated the need to replace the entire bridge.

The City Council and PPRTA have been briefed on the bridge issues and authorized an accelerated process to replace the bridge. The accelerated process includes contracting with Rockrimmon Constructors, Inc. (COSMIX design/build contractor) to minimize the time it takes to design the bridge replacement and to take advantage of efficiencies of doing the work in conjunction with the other COSMIX bridges. Preliminary design and pricing of the construction will occur in the last quarter of 2006. Total estimated project cost: $8,000,000 (2006 = $2,000,000; 2007 = $6,000,000). Construction of the bridge replacement is expected to occur in 2007 with the bridge completed at the end of 2007.

For more information regarding the Pikes Peak RTA please contact Rick Sonnenburg, PPRTA Program/Contract Manager rsonnenburg@ppacg.org. If there are questions regarding this website please contact Jayne Blewitt at jblewitt@ppacg.org.