West Colorado Avenue Project (WAAP)
2021 NACo Achievement Award Winner
El Paso County, Colo., CO
Best In Category
About the Program
Category: Transportation (Best in Category)
Year: 2021
Working together on the West Colorado Avenue Project (also called the WAAP), five agencies changed a community where no one agency could have accomplished it alone. The WAAP project provided a complete streets roadway section accommodating all modes of travel, realigned 1,000 feet of Fountain Creek under a new bridge passing the 100-year flood, provided all underground utilities, water quality, ADA accommodations, and multimodal facilities of a 1.5-mile often forgotten corridor. By working together to invest in transportation infrastructure, the once named âNo-Manâs Landâ has a new moniker named after a historic general and historic intersection. The new moniker âAdams Crossingâ is a new place with increasing private investment resulting in the project goal of economic vitality. With most normal projects, there are defined goals set for schedule and budget. The Westside Avenue Action Plan was no normal project; the challenges were so great it required a community commitment to see the project through its completion while navigating all the difficulties and unknowns associated with working in a historic corridor. The result will pay dividends for generations to come.