COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Colorado Springs city officials are planning two major projects along a busy road on the city’s west side.

One project, starting this fall, is the replacement of the bridge on Water Street at the 31st Street intersection. But the change that caught most peoples’ attention is the installation of a roundabout.

This would replace the 4-way stop at 31st Street and Fontanero Street. It’s an intersection along a stretch of road that’s become a popular cut-through to several tourist locations, including Garden of the Gods just north of it, Old Colorado Cito to it’s south, and Manitou Springs.

“I’m pretty pleased about the process and looking forward to its completion,” Jan Kirk, who lives nearby, said.

Kirk said she has noticed problems with that stretch of road; particularly, she said, she’s noticed backed-up traffic on weekends and holidays that she believes a roundabout could help solve.

“Just the other day, on the Labor Day weekend, Friday morning, it took me 16-17 minutes from the intersection of Fontanero and 31st going toward Colorado Avenue,” she said.

For reference, that drive, according to Google and Apple Maps, typically takes between 1-3 minutes. But city officials said improving driving times isn’t the only reason for the change.

“Roundabouts, in general, reduce the number and the severity of collisions,” said Ryan Phipps, the city’s capital improvements manager.

Phipps said the city has seen success with replacing intersections with roundabouts in the past and he believes this change will do the same in this neighborhood.

But some at an open house meeting on Tuesday, who didn’t want to appear on camera, told 11 News they were worried about other safety issues arising.

Some said they foresee the roundabout creating a dangerous situation for pedestrians, saying they were worried about the potential for drivers to keep moving without looking for someone crossing, as opposed to taking the time to stop like they do now.

They said these concerns mainly come from Howbert Elementary nearby, with many pedestrians being young children and their parents.

In response, city officials said they plan to work closely with Howbert and make safety improvements as needed, relying on feedback to help them identify and solve any issues that might come up.

Some also expressed concerns about accessibility when it came to driving into or out of their own driveways. But Kirk said she isn’t too concerned, calling it a positive and much-needed change.

“Thank you, Colorado Springs, for doing this,” she said. “It’s improving the neighborhood.”

The replacement of the Water Street bridge is set to begin this fall. The construction on the roundabout at Fontanero is set to begin in April of 2027 and finish by fall of the same year.

You can track those projects here.

UCHealth’s Memorial Hospital Central and Memorial Hospital North in Colorado Springs are the first hospitals in Colorado to use the i-STAT Alinity traumatic brain injury blood test, a new tool that helps emergency physicians quickly determine whether adults may have suffered a mild brain injury, including a concussion. Using just a few drops of blood and delivering results in about 15 minutes, the bedside test detects proteins released after a brain injury and can help rule out the need for a CT scan, a process that can otherwise take several hours.

“Avoiding a scan can shorten your stay in the emergency department, lower radiation exposure associated with a scan, eliminate the need for a radiologist’s evaluation and reduce costs for everyone,” said Dr. George Hertner, chair of emergency medicine for UCHealth in southern Colorado. “Everybody wins.”

The test has been used more than 175 times over the past six months and has eliminated the need for CT scans in about 80% of cases. The test is available only for patients age 18 and older and must be administered within 24 hours of the injury.

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