COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Collaboration continues between construction crews and businesses along the renovation zone of Tejon Street in downtown Colorado Springs.
“The construction crew has been amazing. They are the reason that we got our patio back open.”
Meredith Klube a Managing Partner at Jack Quinn’s Pub said it was construction workers who came up with the idea to use temporary railing to bring back outdoor space for dining after they completed sidewalk paving in front of the business.
“I did a social media post about having our patio back, and there were so many people that said, ‘Oh, we're coming down,” said Klube.
In the current construction area traffic is down to one way travel on the west side of the street while the east side is a renovation zone.
Both sides are open to pedestrians.
“Try to be as least impactful as possible, while still getting some good progress in,” said Contractor, Taylor Preisser.
Some of the subsurface work is causing curiosity among pedestrians.
One of the more eye-catching elements is a large structure of below-surface hollow cubes.
It is engineering meets forestry.
The cubes are cells that get filled with soil.
“Basically, gives an area underneath of the sidewalk for the tree roots to grow and kind of give an area to support the sidewalk and make sure that that stays in place while giving a place for the roots to get established,” said Preisser.
The underground work is the foundation for a healthy tree canopy in years to come.
There have been a few challenges during the first weeks of the project like the three-day storm with heavy rain slowing work during and for several days after the storm.
When underground work is complete the paving on the surface can happen quickly.
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