UPDATE: MONDAY (1/30/2023) 3:17 p.m.

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The planned update from the City about the North Douglas Creek Channel Restoration Project has been postponed due to extreme weather conditions on Monday, Jan. 30. The City said it will release more information when the update can be rescheduled.

FRIDAY (1/27/2023) 5:20 p.m.

The City of Colorado Springs will provide an update on Monday, Jan. 30, about the near completion of the North Douglas Creek Channel Restoration Project, which came after extensive erosion to the underpass near Garden of the Gods threatened I-25 and nearby roads and properties.

The project is the last site in a 2013 audit of the City’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit by the Environmental Protection Agency.

It is also one of 71 projects identified through an agreement with Pueblo County, which committed Colorado Springs to spending $460 million over the next two decades to enhance public safety, provide improved water detention, improve water quality, and reduce flows, including the amount of sediment that flows downstream.

The City said extreme erosion through the 1,000 feet of natural channel was threatening to damage I-25 and Sinton Road, which runs parallel to the interstate at Garden of the Gods, as well as adjacent properties and railroad tracks. Utilities including water lines, gas mains, and sewer lines had to be relocated several times to prevent erosion into the creek.

  • North Douglas Creek Channel Restoration project
  • North Douglas Creek Channel Restoration project
  • North Douglas Creek Channel Restoration project
  • North Douglas Creek Channel Restoration project

The City said it took years to get this project to construction, due to the complexity of the project area, and extensive coordination was needed with both the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Union Pacific Railroad. 

Construction began in July of 2022, at a cost of $4.6 million, which was funded by the City’s Stormwater Enterprise, Colorado Springs Utilities and a FEMA Grant.

Notable improvements include:

  • Rebuilding the end of the box culvert under I-25 that had fallen into the creek.
  • Grading existing 20-foot vertical cliffs along the sides of the creek to flatter slopes that can be planted with grasses and trees to prevent future erosion.
  • Flattening the bottom of the creek to slow down the water and then stair stepping the creek using large boulders that are grouted together.
  • Utility relocations and removals.

Once completed at the anticipated date of March 2023, the project will protect Sinton Road, multiple utilities, railroad tracks, adjacent properties and reduce the amount of sediment that is eroded downstream into Monument Creek.