State transportation planners have halted work on a roundabout they had proposed for the junction of U.S. 24 and Colorado 67 in Divide after Teller County officials pushed back hard against the agency's process. County leaders joined CDOT executives, engineers, and planners at a session held last week in Woodland Park to voice their objections and demand a reset.
The county's displeasure dated to March, when the county administrator reported that officials were "totally caught off guard" by the roundabout announcement. At the Woodland Park session, a CDOT traffic operations project engineer took responsibility for how the rollout was handled, saying "We made a misstep" and acknowledging that "Public relations is not our strong suit, so we are starting with a blank slate."
The meeting was designed to give CDOT an opportunity to hear what local stakeholders found troubling about the intersection. The county sheriff raised a wide range of safety concerns, among them hazmat trucks transporting cyanide to SSR Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine, the absence of any alternate route if a serious accident blocks the junction, and the danger posed by reckless drivers. The sheriff's most pressing worries centered on two other nearby locations — the U.S. 24 and Lower Twin Rocks Road intersection and the Sherwood Forest entrance — where he said officers were struck by an oncoming vehicle, and where he argued a traffic signal is urgently needed.
CDOT kept its focus on the U.S. 24 and Colorado 67 junction, which anchors the Divide community, where two significant projects are due to wrap up their initial stages within two years: a new residential subdivision and the Teller County Central Service Center. A developer behind the 61-acre Alpine Vista project raised worries about how pedestrians would navigate a roundabout safely, suggesting that CDOT arrange a site visit to the subdivision before advancing any further design work.
The county's planning director offered some of the sharpest criticism of the day, telling CDOT representatives "You need to build trust" and saying the plan felt rushed, while stressing that the intersection represents "the core of Divide." CDOT responded by outlining a revised community engagement approach that would begin with a resident survey, followed by data analysis and two public open houses. The planning director was unsatisfied with that plan, arguing that two meetings fall short and that residents of Victor, Cripple Creek, and Four Mile must also be included, noting that face-to-face engagement is central to how Teller County operates.
CDOT's engineering supervisor confirmed the agency has put its junction design on hold. The sheriff offered to host an opening community meeting at his Divide office in late October.
Whether CDOT's revised outreach process will ultimately preserve or abandon the roundabout concept remains to be seen.