Colorado’s proposed second Buc-ee’s has reached another transportation hurdle. After the company filed its detailed Colorado site plan, state officials decided that the requested Interstate 25 ramp changes will require a public decision by the full Colorado Transportation Commission.
The commission is expected to begin discussing the interchange in spring 2027, following additional traffic work and an environmental review. According to The Monument Independent’s review of an October 15 state memo, no state permit for the highway work can be issued before the commission acts.
Why the Colorado decision is changing
Interchange modifications are normally decided by the Colorado Department of Transportation’s chief engineer. In this case, Chief Engineer Keith Stefanik said the request would go to the 11-member Transportation Commission because of its technical complexity.
That move adds a public process. The state plans to complete an Environmental Assessment, which is used when a project’s effects are not immediately clear. The commission will also receive a system-level interchange study and a transportation-demand plan before its workshops begin.
The environmental review could end with a finding that the project would not create significant impacts. If officials instead find that major effects are likely, a more extensive environmental study could be required.
The ramps are separate from the store site
Buc-ee’s wants to build near Interstate 25 and County Line Road on Monument Hill, north of Colorado Springs. Its traffic study says both interstate off-ramps would fail under the projected store traffic without new signals.
El Paso County—not Buc-ee’s—would apply for the state interchange permit. As of the October 19 project update, that application had not been filed, and the timing depended partly on the county’s development review.
The distinction matters. El Paso County controls approvals for work on the store property, while the state controls construction within its highway right-of-way. State officials had not determined whether the store itself could open before all ramp work was finished because no permit application was available to evaluate.
What changed since the last Colorado update
The previous milestone was Buc-ee’s October 12 site-plan submission. County staff are reviewing lighting, parking, traffic, landscaping and roadway details, but submitting those plans did not authorize construction.
The October state memo identifies another decision-maker and gives the public process its first broad window: spring 2027. Buc-ee’s county filings describe a possible construction period from spring 2027 through fall 2028, but that schedule is not an approved opening date.
For Colorado drivers, the project is still moving through review rather than into construction. The next major signals will be county action on the site plan, a formal interchange application and the Transportation Commission’s decision after its environmental and traffic review.
Links on this page may be affiliate links, for which the site earns a small commission, but the price for you is the same
Leave a Comment