State downplays traffic concerns from new Walmart

Walmart stores are known for attracting large amounts of traffic, and a new store is opening with a Sam’s Club in an already-congested area.

The Walmart opened last weekend, with the Sam’s Club soon to follow, near the interchange of Interstate 25 and South Academy Boulevard.

The area already has heavy traffic from nearby Fort Carson and one of two campuses for Pikes Peak Community College.

But Bob Wilson, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said traffic wasn’t a problem during the Walmart opening and he doesn’t anticipate it being so in the future.

“If it is, we can just use the highway message boards to alert drivers to watch for traffic backups on the ramps,” Wilson said.

Wilson also said the new stores have enough service roads to prevent traffic backups into the interchange.

The service roads are in El Paso County’s jurisdiction but the land under the stores was annexed into the city of Fountain.