Safety upgrades, traffic changes coming to Highway 85-87/Carson Boulevard intersection in Fountain
FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) -- A T-shaped intersection where more "T-bone" crashes have occurred in recent years is the target of a $2.6 million Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project that starts in two weeks.
The project will bring safety upgrades and traffic changes to the intersection of Highway 85/87 and Carson Boulevard on the northwest side of town.
The intersection is bordered by railroad tracks to the east, a shopping center to the north, a car wash to the south and a residential neighborhood to the west.
CDOT said that the intersection now has more traffic than it was designed for and that the increase started in 2022, two years after a section of Southmoor Drive -- a major street through the neighborhood -- closed because of erosion danger from Fountain Creek.
Neighbors used Southmoor as the most convenient route to the highway, which connects to Southmoor at both ends of a shopping area.
The project will install traffic signals at the intersection and ease turning into and out of Carson; northbound highway traffic will continue to turn left onto Carson but vehicles will no longer be allowed to turn left onto the highway from Carson.
As CDOT traffic engineer Matthew Jagow explained: "We did an intersection evaluation on what would be the best recommendation, and out of that study was what we're moving forward with -- given the constraints in that area due to right-of-way with the railroad, and other things."
The project is scheduled for completion in January; some pedestrian improvements have already been bade on the west side of the intersection.
While several people told KRDO 13's The Road Warrior that they're glad to see the project coming, Phillip Rash -- who has owned a nearby Dairy Queen store since 1998 -- said he's wondering how the project will affect him.
"The fact that the northbound traffic won't be able to pull into my store anymore," he said. "They have to come through here, so we have to revamp the whole drive-thru. That's going to be really hard to do. I need summer business because it's slower in the winter. The state told me that there had been 200 crashes but I don't believe there's been nearly that many."
CDOT and Fountain officials will hold an informational meeting about the project Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at New Jerusalem Missionary Church, 5485 Alegre Drive.
The intersection is also receiving more traffic because of growth and the frequency of Highway 85/87 serving as a detour around road construction or emergencies on I-25.
As for Southmoor Drive, a $2 million erosion control project is scheduled to start this fall and continue through the end of 2025 that should eventually result in reopening that street.
