It’s back! 

Once again, a city agency is proposing to extend four-lanes-wide Constitution Avenue from Paseo Road along the old Rock Island railroad tracks through Monument Valley Park and connect it to Interstate 25 at the West Fontanero Street interchange. 

This is a real pain for the quiet residential neighborhoods that border the old Rock Island railroad grade. 

One of them is the Old North End National Register Historic District, which borders the south side of the scenic old railroad right of way, which is now a biker-hiker trail. 

Constitution Avenue is a busy four-lane city street that starts on the east side of town. It ends at Paseo Road, where the traffic jogs to the left and runs down two-lane Paseo Road and East Fontanero Street into the downtown area. 

Plans to “extend Constitution Avenue straight to Interstate 25” have been proposed several times before in Colorado Springs history. 

In each previous case, the City Council has firmly rejected extending Constitution Avenue straight to I-25. 

Council instead has called for turning the old railroad right of way into a landscaped walking trail and not invading Monument Valley Park with a heavily trafficked four-lane street. 

Here is the latest attempt to revive the extension of Constitution Avenue: 

The Fountain Creek Watershed Vision and Implementation Plan has been prepared by Pikes Peak Waterways and the city of Colorado Springs. It is a development plan for the entire Fountain Creek watershed that includes Monument Creek and Monument Valley Park.  

The plan involves restoring Monument Creek to a more natural setting. There will be beaches for sunbathing and relaxing. Various forms of boating will be established. The plan will maximize the use of already existing creek features such as America the Beautiful Park. 

The latest version of the plan, however, includes maps that show Constitution Avenue being extended along the old Rock Island railroad right of way across Monumental Valley Park and connecting to the highway interchange at West Fontanero Street and I-25. 

In late 2024, neighborhood representatives first discovered that the city’s future plan for Monument Creek and Fountain Creek revived the Constitution Avenue extension and thus would make it official city policy. 

The neighborhood representatives met with plan officials and questioned them about the maps in that earlier version of the study. 

The neighborhood representatives were told the map was “in error” because City Council had approved an explicit requirement that the Constitution Extension studies be removed from the plan. 

It was noted the railroad right of way should only be considered for use as an urban greenway, continuing its highly valued function in the Legacy Loop System. 

The Legacy Loop System is a plan to build a bicycle trail completely around the city. 

 The Council has also directed that actions be taken to encourage that the old Rock Island railroad right of way become a permanent part of the park system.  

 Despite all those statements, in the latest draft of the plan, the map clearly shows the extension of Constitution Avenue and a vehicular bridge crossing Monument Creek in Monument Valley Park.  

Also, in the latest draft of the plan, there is a picture of the proposed interchange at West Fontanero Street and I-25. 

It appears this new draft of the plan is being prepared to go to City Council for approval sometime soon, possibly as early as in September. 

It is easy to see why the neighbors who live along the right of way of this proposed Constitution Avenue extension are so concerned. 

They were promised the Constitution Avenue extension would never be built, but here it is again in the latest version of the development plan for Fountain and Monument Creeks. 

News columnist Bob Loevy is a retired political science professor at Colorado College who writes about Colorado and national politics.