Students protest gate on Stanton road near UCCS campus

A small group of students with a big mission gathered in front of a gate that closes the southern end of Stanton Road near the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus.

They were led by a student, Skyler Digirolamo. She and many others used to use the road as a shortcut between the main and West campus. The only problem is the road goes directly through a neighborhood.

The gate was good news for people who lived in the area and didn’t want student traffic, but now it forces everyone to use Austin Bluffs Parkway to get between campuses.

Digirolamo says that’s not the safer option, “from what we’ve seen there have been no accidents on Stanton Road, no student or person has been hurt on Stanton Road, whereas multiple accidents happen on Austin Bluffs. We’ve had hit and runs and we had a student die last year.”

The gate isn’t fully functioning right now. It currently sits open after an emergency vehicle hit it while trying to get through. It’s allowing people to get around the closed road defeating its purpose.

Digirolamo says, “I think [the road] should be allowed for everyone to use and by now blocking it, it’s not safe for everyone to use so it’s in an infraction on their rights.”

UCCS can’t do anything about the road because it’s city-owned but they are working on an alternate route specifically to get between the two campuses.