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Questions arise from Canon City Council on Hwy 50 expansion plan

Posted at 10:17 PM, Jun 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-05 00:17:18-04

Discussions on the proposed lane expansions on Highway 50 in Canon City continued Monday night. 

The goal of the plan is to improve traffic, safety, and access to businesses. However, some business and property owners don’t want it. The corridor plan could affect businesses along Highway 50 and Fremont Drive. The expansion would cover more than six miles and incorporate right-in and right-out lanes. 

Canon City Council met on Monday to review the plan, ask questions, and give feedback. The overall feeling from members: they want more answers and input from the community. 

The first draft of the plan was introduced to council back in March. A public open house was held in April. In May, CDOT and city representatives met one-on-one with over two dozen property owners. The city engineer told council on Monday that feedback, in general, was either neutral or positive. The exceptions were two property owners concerned with fire department response time which is being looked into by the city engineer and the fire chief. 

Still, even after Monday’s discussion, there are still lots of questions from both council members and citizens.

Canon City Councilwoman Dolly Gonzales said, "My concerns are how long is the project going to take? How are these businesses going to be impacted during the project? How big a parcel are we looking at?"

Any decisions made about the Highway 50 corridor plan will be made by city council. 

The city engineer says a revised draft of the plan will be presented on July 11. Another public open house and one-on-one’s with property owners will happen after that.