Two key road infrastructure projects officials say will increase safety and mobility for travelers and military service members in Colorado Springs will receive infusions of federal funds to help push them toward the finish line.

One grant will fund about 70% of the estimated cost to construct a new interchange into Peterson Space Force Base off U.S. 24. The other will allow officials to study a future project proposed to replace the existing Academy Boulevard bridge over Platte Avenue.

The grants “represent a significant investment in our community’s future,” Mayor Yemi Mobolade said in a city news release.

The federal funds are also critical for Colorado Springs because “it’s the only way to bring in new funding for infrastructure into our community,” city engineer and Deputy Director of Public Works Gayle Sturdivant told reporters Thursday.

Officials plan to reconstruct the intersection at U.S. 24 and Peterson Boulevard to make it safer and easier to access the north gate at Peterson Space Force Base, Sturdivant said.

For the $15.3 million project, Colorado Springs received $10.7 million in grant money from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Community Infrastructure pilot program that helps fund infrastructure improvements to support the military.

The Colorado Department of Transportation, Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments and Peterson Gateway Metropolitan District extensively studied the intersection, which experiences acute congestion during peak traffic hours, in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

The studies indicated U.S. 24 is a primary route to Peterson Space Force Base and that its intersection with Peterson Boulevard needs upgrading to support anticipated future traffic and regional growth, according to the project website. The metro district said its preferred solution to easing traffic backups in the area are dual roundabouts on Peterson Boulevard’s approaches to the highway, which are shown in project renderings.

The reconstruction project will also consider multimodal options for the intersection, Sturdivant said Thursday, including bus and bike lanes, sidewalks and trails.

She anticipated construction could begin next summer or earlier.

A federal grant of $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bridge Investment Program is helping fund a study to possibly replace the aging Academy Boulevard bridge over Platte Avenue, two of the city’s busiest corridors. Colorado Springs’ bridge fund matched the grant, Sturdivant said.

Located near The Citadel mall on the southeast side, the bridge was first constructed in 1965 as two separate bridges. In 1975, state transportation officials combined the Academy Boulevard bridges over Platte into one bridge that has, in the decades since, “moved toward a poor state of condition,” Sturdivant said.

Piecemeal efforts to consolidate the bridges left the remaining bridge with “non-traditional spacing” in some areas that has led to differential movement over the years, she said. Other areas of the bridge have also been corroded, which could cause other components of the bridge to fail.

Sturdivant stressed that officials are taking a proactive approach to rebuilding the bridge they know will eventually need to be replaced; there is no impending risk to travelers using the bridge, she said.

“It’s not in an ‘imminent danger’ area, but it’s moving that way, so we want to get ahead of that and replace that bridge in advance,” Sturdivant said.

She added the city has already changed signalization in the area and that has led to a “dramatic decrease” in left-hand turn crashes there. The bridge replacement study will give the city an opportunity to scrutinize the road configuration and possibly change turn lane configurations to make turning safer, Sturdivant said.

Sturdivant expects city officials will begin soliciting community feedback on the possible bridge replacement in about a year.

She encouraged public participation in planning efforts, which provide the opportunity to widen sidewalks and find other ways to incorporate more multimodal transportation options, among other improvements.

The entire bridge replacement project could cost about $42 million and Colorado Springs will seek other funding opportunities to help pay for design and construction, she said.

If the project moves forward, the city could break ground in three to five years.