Colorado State Highway 21

State Highway 21 (SH 21), also known as Powers Boulevard, is an expressway in El Paso County, in eastern Colorado Springs. SH 21 currently extends from SH 16 (Mesa Ridge Parkway) in Fountain at its southern end to InterQuest Parkway/SH 83 in the north side of Colorado Springs. Extensions to I-25 near North Gate Boulevard and south to I-25 near Pikes Peak International Raceway are proposed, and the road is planned to be converted to a freeway in the long-term future.

State Highway 21
Powers Boulevard
Map of El Paso County in central Colorado with SH 21 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by CDOT
Length22.60 mi[1] (36.37 km)
Existed2007[2]–present
Major junctions
South end SH 16 in Fountain
  US 24 in Colorado Springs
North end SH 83 in Colorado Springs
Location
CountiesEl Paso
Highway system
Colorado State Highways
← SH 17→ SH 22

Route description
SH 21 northbound in Colorado Springs
End of SH 21 at SH 83 in Colorado Springs

For most of its routing the highway is a four to six-lane, limited access highway. In the north, it begins as a semi-freeway with a 60 mph speed limit, and becomes a six lane expressway with a 55 mph speed limit in the city of Colorado Springs after Union Boulevard and remains so throughout the entire route. The northern section, from Research Parkway to Interquest Parkway/SH 83 is constructed to interstate highway standards with sufficient right-of-way to construct planned overpasses and on/off-ramps. CDOT completed interchanges and bridges at Union Boulevard and Briargate Parkway in 2013 and an interchange at Old Ranch Road in 2015. Future interchanges at Research Parkway, SH 83 and a future freeway to freeway interchange planned for the SH 21/I-25/Northgate Blvd interchange will be constructed based on the availability of funding and need. The whole routing from I-25 to Proby Parkway is planned as a controlled-access freeway. The southern portion (from Research Parkway) is a limited-access highway with interchanges constructed at Woodmen Road and Platte Ave/US 24. SH 21 and US 24 overlap between Platte Ave, and Fountain Blvd. It ends at SH-16 also known as Mesa Ridge Parkway in Security-Widefield.

History

In 1964, the City of Colorado Springs included the "Powers Corridor" in its major thoroughfare plan as a bypass of the city two miles east of Academy Boulevard,[3][4]:2-3 and, in the 1970s, Colorado Springs and El Paso County recommended that Powers Boulevard be constructed "at least to expressway standards" and proposed it to be included in the Interstate Highway System.[5]

Thoroughfare development

As interest in development near Powers Boulevard grew over the 1980s, developers formed a metropolitan district to fund an expansion of the road from Platte Avenue to Woodmen Road by issuing bonds.[6][7]

Planning and construction of Powers Boulevard continued through the 1990s. The segment between Fountain Boulevard and Platte Avenue was included in the Colorado Springs US 24 bypass and reconstructed as an expressway; the city additionally extended the road south from Fountain Boulevard to Fontaine Boulevard.[4]:2-2 The Powers corridor was included in the National Highway System,[8]:1 and studies were prepared to extend the road to I-25 north and south of Colorado Springs.[4]:2-3 In June 1999, the City of Colorado Springs, El Paso County, and CDOT completed an agreement for a phased transfer of ownership for Powers Boulevard. According to the plan, over the following years, CDOT would assume ownership of Powers Boulevard with the intent to develop it as a limited-access freeway, and, in exchange, the city would assume ownership of several CDOT-owned roads, including the I-25 Business Loop along Nevada Avenue and SH 83 north of US 24; at this time, Powers Boulevard was planned to be the new path of SH 83 through Colorado Springs.[9] In March 2000, the Colorado Transportation Commission adopted a resolution designating the future Powers Boulevard between I-25 and Woodmen Road as a freeway.[10]

The first interchange along Powers Bouelvard, a partial cloverleaf at Platte Avenue, was finished in 2001. The southern end was extended to Mesa Ridge Parkway this year, as well.[3] Between 2001 and 2005, Powers Boulevard was extended north from Woodmen Road to SH 83 as an at-grade expressway, with right-of-way preserved for future interchanges.[3][11]

State highway

The agreemeent to exchange ownership of Powers Boulevard was updated in 2007, and the road was adopted into the state highway system as State Highway 21;[12] transfers of ownership to CDOT were complete in 2008.[13] Powers Boulevard's second interchange, at Woodmen Road, was also completed this year.[14] In 2009, CDOT finished an environmental assessment of the central Powers Boulevard corridor from Woodmen Road to Mesa Ridge Parkway, setting the layout for a freeway between Woodmen Road and Milton E. Proby Parkway, as well as recommending preserving of right-of-way for a future freeway south to Mesa Ridge Parkway.[4] By this time, SH 21 was no longer considered a bypass of Colorado Springs, but a major route through it.[4]:2-8

Through the 2010s, CDOT advanced projects to grade-separate intersections on SH 21 north of Woodmen Road. In 2012, CDOT completed a split diamond interchange at Briargate Parkway and Union Boulevard, [15] and an overpass was built at Old Ranch Road to form a diamond interchange in 2015.[16] Preliminary plans were developed to construct an interchange at Research Parkway, the last at-grade intersection between Dublin Boulevard and the northern terminus of Powers, but they were put on hold in late 2018 after voters rejected two ballot measures proposing funding for state transportation projects.[17]

The Copper Ridge Metropolitan District was formed in 2010 to fund the extension of Powers Boulevard from SH 83 to I-25 through tax increment financing from the Polaris Pointe development, located near the planned I-25/Powers Boulevard interchange.[18] Construction on the first phase of the extension began in 2019.[19]

Future

Construction on the first phase of the northern extension of SH 21 to I-25 is underway, led by the Copper Ridge Metropolitan District; the project includes the segment from I-25 to Voyager Parkway and is scheduled to finish in summer 2021. The second phase, to connect Powers Boulevard between Voyager Parkway and SH 83, has not been funded or scheduled.[20]

The 2010 central Powers Boulevard studies proposed the interchange between SH 21 and Airport Road/Stewart Avenue as a priority project due to congestion at the intersection and its use as the main entrance to Peterson Air Force Base.[21] In 2014, CDOT identified a diverging diamond as the preferred interchange type,[22] and, in 2020, they included the project in their ten-year vision plan, anticipated for the second half of the decade.[23]:21

In late 2019, CDOT finished designs for a diverging diamond interchange between SH 21 and Research Parkway in northern Colorado Springs.[24] and the State Transportation Commission approved funding for construction, scheduled to begin in summer 2020.[25] In Spring 2020, CDOT included the interchange in the first phase of projects of their ten-year vision.[23]:17 Funding for the project was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[26] but it was identified for the second phase of "add-back" projects that would advance if CDOT received additional funds.[27]

Junction list

The entire route is in El Paso County.

Exit numbers are offset by 131.

LocationmikmExitDestinationsNotes
Fountain00.0 SH 16 west (Mesa Ridge Parkway) – FountainSouthern terminus; road continues west as SH 16
Colorado Springs813 US 24 west (Fountain Boulevard) – Manitou SpringsSouth end of US 24 overlap
914Stewart AvenueInterchange; northbound entrance only
1016141 US 24 east (Platte Avenue) – LimonInterchange; north end of US 24 overlap
1829149Woodmen RoadInterchange; signed as exits 149A (east) and 149B (west) northbound
1931150Research ParkwayFuture DDI interchange
2032151Union Boulevard, Briargate ParkwayInterchange
2235153Old Ranch RoadInterchange
2337154 SH 83 north (Interquest Parkway) – Colorado Springs, DenverCurrent northern terminus, future interchange, road continues north as SH 83
2642157Voyager ParkwayFuture interchange
2743158 I-25 / US 85 / US 87/North Gate BoulevardFuture northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References
  1. "Segment list for SH 21". Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  2. Salek, Matthew E. (January 30, 2010). "Colorado Routes 20–39". Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  3. "Corridor History". Archived from the original on May 17, 2006. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  4. Environmental Assessment for Powers Boulevard (SH 21) between Woodmen Road and SH 16 in Colorado Springs, Colorado (Technical report). Colorado Department of Transportation. November 2009.
  5. "Overall Corridor Endoresements". Archived from the original on May 17, 2006. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  6. Goodwin, C.S. (June 26, 2009). "METEX Metropolitan District". Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  7. Zubeck, Pam (May 11, 2009). "Metex ends checkered story". The Gazette. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  8. "Environmental Assessment: Powers Boulevard Extension North, Woodmen Road to I-25" (pdf). July 1997. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  9. "Resolution No. 110-99" (pdf). Colorado Springs. June 8, 1999.
  10. "Transportation Commission of Colorado Resolution" (PDF). March 16, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2006.
  11. "Information on North Powers/SH 83/Shoup". Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  12. "Resolution No. 25-07" (pdf). Colorado Springs. September 25, 2007.
  13. Resolution of the Transportation Commission of Colorado included in AASHTO Route Numbering Archive document Application_CO_2009_87_US.
  14. "News Releases Indexed by Area". Archived from the original on January 3, 2009.
  15. "New Powers Boulevard Set to Open This Weekend". August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  16. Hobbs, Stephen (September 5, 2015). "Colorado Springs road project almost complete, another ahead of schedule". The Gazette. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  17. Carmody, Kevin (November 26, 2018). "After propositions fail, Powers-Research improvements 'in a holding pattern'". The Woodmen Edition. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  18. "Polaris Point/Copper Ridge". Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  19. Middaugh, Jenna (October 7, 2019). "'It'll be faster': Work to start soon to connect Powers to I-25". KKTV. Gray Digital Media. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  20. "I-25 & Powers Boulevard Interchange: About". Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  21. "Peterson Air Force Base Transportation Plan Final Environmental Assessment" (PDF). Felsburg Holt & Ullevig. pp. 60–61.
  22. Wells, Garrison (May 19, 2014). "New Colorado Springs interchange is part of national move to new design". The Gazette. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  23. "Vision for Colorado's Transportation System: 10-Year Strategic Project Pipeline" (PDF). Colorado Department of Transportation. Spring 2020.
  24. "CO21 (Powers Boulevard) and Research Parkway Interchange Fact Sheet" (PDF). Colorado Department of Transportation. February 2020. p. 2.
  25. "CO21 (Powers Boulevard) and Research Parkway Interchange January 2020 eNewsletter" (PDF). Colorado Department of Transportation. January 2020. p. 2.
  26. "COVID-19 State Budget Gaps: Impacts on Transportation" (pdf). April 2020. p. 13., cited in Minor, Nathaniel (April 16, 2020). "Coronavirus Ended Traffic, But It Could Also Delay These CDOT Construction Projects". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  27. "Colorado Transportation Commission Schedule & Agenda July 16, 2020" (pdf). July 2020. pp. 89, 98.
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