It took three attempts over multiple months, but Palmer High School was given permission from the city Tuesday to build its new campus design across Boulder Street.

The Colorado Springs City Council voted 6-2 at the morning council meeting to vacate the block of Boulder that currently separates the two sections of the high school campus. Colorado Springs School District 11 plans to build a track and athletics facility across the vacated section of Boulder as part of the next phase of renovations to the high school.

Councilmembers Brandy Williams and Nancy Henjum changed their votes since March to support the street closure, while Dave Donelson and Kimberly Gold continued to vote against it. Councilmember Brian Risley recused himself from the discussion.

Palmer High School Principal Krista Burke said she was excited to continue to see the school’s master plan of renovations keep moving ahead for students. Burke said the additional safety improvements to some of the intersections near Palmer were a benefit of the delayed approval for the road closure.

“I’m grateful that our councilmembers did a lot of due diligence to say that this project is important for the future of the city,” Burke said.

The City Council had originally voted against the road closure in March, while approving the other aspects of the zoning and construction plans for Palmer High School. Williams asked to reconsider the vote at the next meeting in order to promote a broader conversation about student safety around the campus.

The council appeared to reject the road closure again on March 24 until a second reconsidered vote, this time at the request of Councilmember Roland Rainey, swung the issue and brought the road closure debate back to the council Tuesday.

“I think that was ultimately a good thing because … there were a number of things related to safety and traffic and school zones that were not addressed,” Henjum said. “I got a lot of information myself, but I think it’s really important for the public to hear.”

Henjum peppered the city staff and school district with questions about the additional safety measures that were planned around the high school and the long-term role that a future bond measure in District 11 would play in completing the project.

Williams said that she was happy to hear that the district and city traffic planners had added new safety measures around the school. New crosswalks and reduced speed limits had already been planned at Palmer as part of the school zone improvements being phased in across Colorado Springs.

City staff said they were also adding protected turn lanes to four of the intersections surrounding the school.

“Our first goal was to look at how we can reduce the number of crossings that take place. Certainly, this consolidated campus does that with the individual intersections themselves,” said Chris Lieber, principal designer from N.E.S. who represented District 11.

The closure ordinance will allow public access across the segment of Boulder Street when it’s not affected by construction or school events. The ordinance specifically guaranteed access while the Platte Avenue improvements are made one block to the south.

The previous council decisions saw public comments about balancing the safety of students crossing the street to get across campus with the safety risks posed by permanently closing a road in downtown. Tuesday’s meeting did not allow any new public comment, so there was little time spent opposing the road closure.

Donelson said that it was hard to support the closure when students would still cross other streets in the area. The majority of parking planned for the high school borders other segments of the Palmer campus away from the main campus, such as Erps Field.

Donelson also raised the issue of the ripple effect the street closure could have if downtown Colorado Springs continued to grow.

“Ten or 15 years from now, when there are traffic jams downtown and you can’t flow through as you can now, you might look back on this and wish this council had been a little slower and more thoughtful,” Donelson said.

The block of Boulder has been temporarily closed since last fall during the first phase of renovation work on the high school.

Burke said the current phase of renovations will continue through the spring of 2028 and the work on the athletic facilities that cross Boulder would come once that concludes.

District 11 Assistant Superintendent Brandan Comfort said the district will be able to complete the phase of work, which required the Boulder Street closure as designed, with current funding. The second phase of the project will depend on a potential bond measure that would cover up to $700 million in projects across the district. Comfort said the district had not decided if they would pursue the bond in November.