This map depicts the most congested parts of the city. Note the Downtown area is among those with the worst problems.
City of Colorado Springs
The city’s long-term study of transportation needs has opened for comment.
Called ConnectCOS Transportation Plan for a Mobile Community, the draft plan is the first Colorado Springs citywide multimodal transportation plan in two decades, the city said in a release.
“It explores how transportation investments can help the City realize the vision developed through the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The document reflects more than 50 stakeholder meetings, more than 2,500 previously received unique comments, and two years of technical analysis,” the release said.
One finding shows how reliant the city’s residents are on vehicles. Of those responding to the survey, 98 percent own at least one vehicle and 70 percent drive daily, but 65 percent said they thought it “extremely important” for the city to offer transportation choices.
The project website has a wealth of findings, such as maps that show where crashes happen most frequently and where traffic is most congested.
The congestion map shows that one of the worst areas for travel time, vehicle delays and intersection performance is the Downtown vicinity where apartment buildings have been popping up seemingly everywhere, bringing thousands of new residential units to the city’s core.
But there are other troubled places as well, such as Academy Boulevard between Platte Avenue and Austin Bluffs Parkway, Powers Boulevard between Platte and Barnes Road, Fillmore Street between Union Boulevard and Interstate 25, and Union between Fillmore and Pikes Peak Avenue.
Another map shows what areas are in most need of transportation projects, and those include outlying areas to the east and northeast where the city’s future growth will occur.
City transportation planners are most interested in knowing what residents like and don’t like in the plan, whether it reflects the city’s mobility needs and provides direction to meet those needs, and receiving any other feedback residents would like to share.
But residents shouldn’t put off taking part, because public comment is open only through Dec. 6. If you’d rather not post comments on the project website, you can return handwritten comments to the City Administration Building, 30 S. Nevada Ave.
ConnectCOS is part of PlanCOS, the city’s comprehensive plan.