-Ruxton Corridor Infrastructure Improvement

Overview

Ruxton Avenue remains a high-volume road with aging infrastructure. In 2015, the City of Manitou Springs, Cog Railway, and City of Colorado Springs finalized a Ruxton Avenue Use and Impact Study which started the initial planning and preliminary design strategies for the implementation of improvements to Ruxton Ave.

In early 2020 the City of Manitou Springs, with extensive community engagement, completed the Transportation and Mobility Master Plan (TMMP), which outlines a comprehensive transportation framework for the City to reevaluate how people move around Manitou Springs. Ruxton Avenue improvements were one of six priority projects identified in the TMMP. Also in 2020, the City completed the Ruxton Functionality Study, which, with community input, conceptualized a design for Ruxton Avenue.

Using the information gathered from these three initiatives, in 2021, the City began working towards a finalized design for the Ruxton Avenue Infrastructure Improvement Project. The project has the following priorities:

Bury power and communications lines
Improve sidewalks and streetscapes to provide more efficient and safe mobility along the corridor
Improve the City’s water and sewer lines beneath the roadway

In 2022, discussions with Colorado Springs Utilities regarding their 90+ year old raw water pipelines (24inch & 30inch) resulted in the City of Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs Utilities partnering on the project to replace/rehab Springs Utilities’ raw water lines, all while performing the City’s improvements at the same time to minimize construction impacts.

Funding

The project is 82% federally funded through the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments with the City providing the 18% local match.

Steps Moving Forward

Due to the increased complexity of this project and long lead times for necessary materials, Phase 1 construction is now tentatively scheduled to begin in November of 2024.

Additional time is needed for further subsurface utility engineering, construction phasing plan development, a comprehensive construction impacts plan, community engagement towards a final design, and community engagement regarding traffic and parking impacts BEFORE any construction begins. The project team expects to coordinate with the community in early 2024 about the proposed project impacts.

Tentative Schedule:

Phase 1: Hydro Street to Winter Street
- Tentative: November, 2024 – March, 2025
Future Phases: Winter Street to Ruxton Roundabout
- Tentative: November, 2025 – March 2026
- Tentative: November, 2026 – March 2027

Note: Work is only scheduled for the winter months to minimize traffic and parking impacts.

On May 11, 2023 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at City Hall, City Staff provided a presentation about progress that has been made in the Ruxton Project, and then transition to a discussion based Q&A session. Please note: this session was not to solicit feedback on the design or construction. The purpose of this meeting was to provide a venue to share recent project information.

Engagement where feedback will be considered for the design and construction will take place on a later date.

On February 2, 2023 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at City Hall, City Staff and the engineering consultant used for this project presented the most recent design. The design was created using the Ruxton Avenue Use and Impact Study and the Ruxton Functionality Study. Now that the design had become more detailed and robust, the City asked the community for feedback on various aspects of it.

We have compiled this feedback, and published it here:

Ruxton Corridor Infrastructure Improvement Project Design Feedback