Highway 21 (Air Force Academy: live, commute, distance)

[TheMajjam]

Looking to travel between where I might live to where I work on Highway 21. Distance would be from Peterson AFB to where the Air Force Academy is. About 15 miles. My question is how bad, congestion does 21 get in the morning and the afternoons?

[beezle1]

FYI - 21 is known as Powers here. There are sections that will have some traffic and you may have to wait through a light or two, and other places where it is clear sailing. Probably having stop lights across your commute will be the biggest annoyance. You would also have the option to use I-25.

Check out the live map on Waze during the times you would be driving and you can see where the slowdowns are.
https://www.waze.com/livemap

[Terytee]

Depends on the time of day when you're heading in, but most of the time, it's not a problem.
I take Powers Blvd everyday, to and from roughly the same areas, and it takes me 20mins most mornings.
I typically leave my driveway at about 6:30 and am usually there by 0650 or so. It's an easy commute.

In the afternoons, I leave work at about 4pm, and it may take about 30 - 35mins; not sure why, but since this past summer, there's always a slow-down at the intersection of Powers and Research. It's easy, but it takes a few cycles of the light to get through it now.

When the snow is heavy and the weather is really bad, all bets are off!

All that is to say, 95% of the time, it's an easy drive (not really a commute), and lots of folks do it.

Oh btw, keep in mind, if you're actually working on the AF Academy, you'll need more time...it's huge. You can do quite a bit of driving after you're on the academy!

[TheMajjam]

Thanks for the heads up guys!