MANITOU INCLINE ALTERNATE ROUTE DOWN?

Hello,

I asked about the alternate route down for the Manitou Incline in an email I sent to the Mayor and City Council of both our city, and Manitou Springs a week ago.

I also sent it to the District Ranger at the Forest service.

This is what I said:

“Is the alternate route down from the Manitou Incline on hold?

I was watching Manitou Springs City Council meetings on Zoom last summer and Karen Palus said at one meeting that the city would initiate a NEPA process for the upper section of the alternate route down in the fall or winter.

Why has that process not begun yet?

I only withdrew my opposition to the legal opening of the Incline because we were promised an alternate route down.

I waited for years, so long in fact that I no longer believed that an alternate route down was possible.

Finally the city moved forward last summer.

The public needs an explanation. Will there be an alternate route down from the Incline, and if so when does the city expect it to be available?”

I have received no reply.

I don't understand why public officials do not feel a need to answer legitimate questions.

I will state again that I only withdrew my opposition to the legal opening of the Incline because we were promised an alternate route down.

During the public comment process for the Incline many people were upset about the Barr Trail being over run by people hiking down from the Incline.

It is not normal to have people coming down a trail in the morning hours when people are hiking up. A few people coming down would be tolerable, but the Incline is still sending 45, or even 65 people per half hour down the Barr Trail.

During the public comment process I was under the impression that an alternate route down would be available within a few months or a year.

We were never told that a minimum two year long legal process had to be conducted before the trail could even be built.

This could not have been an accident or oversight because the Forest Service had two representatives on the Task Force.

The Forest Service is known for always giving full detailed disclosure in public comment processes.

I understand that the Task Force had an agenda, but they crossed a few to many lines.

The Incline has been legally open for 8 and one half years, there is still no alternate route down, and public officials are refusing to tell me if the process to get an alternate route down is on hold for some reason.

Is an alternate route down feasible, and if so when can we expect it to be available?

Thank you, Carl Strow