CDOT building roundabout in Monument area to handle increase in big truck traffic
MONUMENT, Colo. (KRDO) -- What's believed to be the second roundabout, or traffic circle, built in the Pikes Peak region by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is entering its third month of construction.
It's on the southwest side of the Monument area, at the intersection of Baptist Road and Terrazzo Drive; it's a key location between two truck stops and downhill from a third.
CDOT believes that the roundabout is needed to better regulate increased traffic flow from heavy trucks -- not only because of the truck stops but also due to a UPS processing center and a sand hauling and supply company, as well as commercial and industrial growth that has attracted several warehouse projects and a Budweiser distributorship.
Matthew Jagow, a CDOT project engineer, said that construction began in June but was delayed two weeks as the agency revised the roundabout's original design.
"The initial phasing was to manage all of the traffic flow and turning movements," he explained. "So, we went back and we looked at our phasing and trying to provide better, safe movement and tried to see if we can detour traffic around through the intersection, and still be able to service all the businesses and try to minimize impacts as best as possible."
The new roundabout will be slightly east of an existing roundabout at the intersection of Baptist, Old Denver and Wood Carver roads.
A Valero truck stop is atop a hill at the I-25/Baptist exit; to reach the Pilot and Quik Trip truck stops at the bottom of the hill during construction, traffic must travel through the work zone and the existing roundabout, turn south and come around behind the Quik Trip -- the newest of the three truck stops -- to Terrazzo.
It can seem bewildering to drivers, especially when traffic is heaviest during the day.
CDOT expects to finish the two-lane roundabout in November at a cost of $4 million.
Two months ago, the agency opened a roundabout at the interchange of US 50 and Highway 115 in Penrose (Fremont County).
CDOT said that a roundabout is the best way to keep traffic moving safely and reduce the severity of any crashes that do happen.
The agency also confirmed that a proposed roundabout KRDO13 reported on last year -- at Highway 83 and the El Paso/Douglas County line, east of Monument -- won't happen any time soon.
"But we're currently evaluating 83 and Stagecoach Road, and what they're doing is what we call intersection control violation," Jagow said. "So, we're looking at all types of types of intersection control -- do nothing, stop control or a signalized roundabout."
That roundabout idea came out of a CDOT study to control speeding and reduce crashes along a ten-mile stretch of 83 between Powers Boulevard and the El Paso-Douglas county line.
