Centennial Boulevard likely won't be done soon

Someone excitedly contacted Getting There this week, saying it looked like work was finally being done to connect Centennial Boulevard from Fillmore Street to the Fontanero Street exit on Interstate 25. Nah. What our excitable boy saw was, indeed, a short stretch of paved Centennial south of Fillmore Street. But it was built with private money to serve the new office building of Colorado Springs Health Partners and ends essentially just past the building. Another short section of the road � minus pavement but with some gutter and curb work � was built farther south to serve a now-moribund townhome project. But it could be many years before motorists can drive a four-lane Centennial Boulevard south of Fillmore to the Fontanero exit on Interstate 25. That�s because the city, per its normal policy, is requiring that developers pay for and build the road through their developments. And the faltering economy has essentially stopped development in the bowl-shaped area, with some of the property being listed as being in bankruptcy, according to El Paso County Public Trustee records. Craig Blewitt, comprehensive planning manager for the city, said this week that city officials have long recognized the importance of Centennial, from its origins north of Ute Valley Park to the proposed connection to Fontanero and I-25. In 1984, a city plan envisioned a six-lane major thoroughfare from Fillmore south to Fontanero. That was changed in 2001 to a four-lane minor arterial, in part because of neighbors� concerns. The city expects developers to build the northern two thirds of Centennial south of Fillmore, with the city building the remaining third and the connection with Fontanero. Blewitt said the last third of the proposed road runs through undevelopable land. Blewitt said that last section of Centennial did not make a list of top road projects to be financed by the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority, meaning the city won�t have the money to build it until at least 2014. Still, he said the city shares the concerns of Mesa Springs neighbors that until that last section is built, motorists wanting to get to Fillmore could cut through the east-west side streets off Chestnut Street to access whatever portions of Centennial are built by developers. He said the city will monitor the area and do what it can to prevent adventurous motorists from bush-whacking their way through what now is lots of dirt. He said the city has begun talks with developers in the area about whether they can help pay for the final third of Centennial to Fontanero. He said the downturn in the real estate market is going to make any such arrangement difficult, although he said the lack of development in the area now means there�s a less pressing need for the connection. He said another project in the area that will be funded by the RTA tax in the next few years � widening Fillmore Road to six lanes between Interstate 25 and Centennial � will help lessen congestion on that major commuter route and dampen the need, at least in the short run, for a Centennial Boulevard that runs to Fontanero.