Douglas Creek branches getting $5M in upgrades, repairs in 2014

       The two branches of North and South Douglas Creeks escaped the worst of last summer's rainstorms. Even still, debris-laden water overwhelmed sediment basins and rushed abrasively down those drainages' six miles of concrete channels. As a result, the city expects to spend $5.1 million this year on what officials describe as emergency repairs.

A crew with the city-contracted Matrix Design Group does prep work for a new concrete bottom in the South Douglas Creek channel west of Centennial Boulevard.
Westside Pioneer photo

       Both Douglas Creeks start in the hilly areas north and west of Garden of the Gods Road, crossing under it in concrete-lined ditches about a mile and a half apart as they drain east/southeast toward Monument Creek.
       According to City Engineering, the funding will involve repairing concrete bottoms, building/ maintaining sediment catchment basins, planting grasses and bushes upstream to offset Waldo Canyon burn area vegetation loss, cutting down trees that have grown inadvertently in the drainages and strategically placing creek-monitoring cameras.
       Contractors began implementing spot repairs on the concrete in both Douglas branches last winter.

Westside Pioneer article