Popular trail at Garden of the Gods to close for construction

If visiting Garden of the Gods over the next month, then you might want to be prepared for some potential closures as a section of Foothills Trail between Blair Bridge and the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center underpass will close temporarily for construction.

During the closure, a new sanitary sewer pipe will be installed through an underground boring process, and a new 20-foot-deep manhole to connect the pipe will be constructed adjacent to Foothills Trail. However, additional trail closures may be required throughout the project.

Mike Chavez, Engineering Manager said, “We just ask that the people using the trail, the cyclists, the walkers to please be patient. And we do ask that they stay out of the work area.”

As for what visitors think of the construction, they don’t necessarily like it, but they are okay with it.

Mona Egger said, “I hope the whole project is done quickly because it’s a bit of an eyesore but again, I understand that they need to do it.”

While John Leach added, “We can work around it. The city is doing a great job on the stormwater mitigation, so we don’t want to interfere with that.”

Chavez reinforced the statement that there are ways around it.

“They also could jump up on the Mesa Trail. That is a little bit out of the way but you could use the Mesa trail and avoid being on 30th street as much,” Chavez said.

The trail will close Monday, July 29th and plans to reopen August 26th. As for the overall project, that isn’t expected to be completed until the end of the year.