Hello,

This is my contribution to Citizen's Discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting:

Good morning,

One of the biggest problems with the Manitou Incline is the excessive number of people coming down the Barr Trail.

Today it is finally on a reservation system.

That system allows up to 130 people to come down the Barr Trail in an hour.

OH MY GOD!

Try hiking up the Barr Trail with that many people heading down the trail, coming right at you, some of them running.

Before the Manitou Incline was made legal the Manitou Incline Task Force was supposed to deal with that problem.

So they promised us an alternate route down from the Incline so the Barr Trail would not be ruined for uphill hikers.

Was that 13 years ago?

If one reads the Manitou Incline Site Development and Management Plan the commitment to provide an alternate route down from the Incline is missing.

Why is that?

Did the Manitou Incline Task Force mislead the public concerning the feasibility of an alternate route for return traffic?

The Incline has been legally open for 10 years and we still do not have an alternate route down.

I was opposed to the legal opening of the lawless beast (Manitou Incline) because it was ruining the Barr Trail.

I eventually changed my mind, only because we were promised an alternate route down.

The Task Force heard many complaints about the Incline ruining the Barr Trail and they “fixed that problem” by making a promise that still has not been fulfilled more than 10 years later.

The Manitou Incline Task Force operated in part using a GOCO grant, it may not mislead the public.

When does the city estimate that the alternate route down will be open?

If one hikes up other popular trails in Colorado in the morning one generally encounters zero hikers coming down.

Hike up the Mt. Harvard Trail or the Mt. Yale Trail.

Most hikers begin their hike in the morning.

The same is true on the Barr Trail.

One encounters zero hikers coming down on other popular trails.

Perhaps the Incline return traffic should not be allowed to come down the Barr Trail until after 11 AM or noon.

Or not allow more than 10 people to hike the Incline per half hour until the afternoon.

Once the alternate route is open they can send as many people down that trail as they like!

It is good that the Manitou Incline was finally put on a reservation system, but the numbers are still too high, and the Incline is still ruining the Barr Trail for morning uphill hikers.

The Incline has never been managed with respect for Barr Trail users, now is a great time to implement good management.

Thank you, Carl Strow