Improvements include:
- New roundabout, replacing a four-way stop
- Reconstructed and widened Charter Oaks Road between the roundabout and Gate 19
- New curbs, gutters, and sidewalks
- New turn lanes, improving access to Fort Carson and area businesses
- Drainage improvements, including water quality/detention features
- Construction of retaining walls and associated embankments
Improving traffic access to Gate 19 gives Fort Carson soldiers an easier and more direct route to the Wilderness Road area where the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade work and train and where Butts Army Heliport is located. This is approximately 6,400 soldiers or almost 25 percent of the Fort Carson soldier population. Due to the poor quality of Charter Oak Ranch Road, it was not used heavily by personnel entering Fort Carson; rather, motorists were using Gate 20 (approximately four miles north). The disproportional use of Gate 20 created backups, which regularly extended to the I-25 off-ramps. El Paso County estimates that improving Charter Oak Ranch Road will remove approximately one fourth of the trips to Gate 20, improving safety along the I-25 corridor and generating time savings for the post’s personnel. “The safety of the traveling public is our primary objective, and it will be improved through these enhancements,” said Shane Ferguson, Regional Transportation Director for CDOT’s Region Two. “The cooperation between CDOT and Fort Carson was excellent."
Work continues on the other components of the MAMSIP project which includes the Interstate 25 Rehabilitation, I-25 Bridges over South Academy Boulevard, and widening of South Academy Boulevard.
