Neighbors call for cleanup in Colorado Springs as trash piles up around Park-n-Ride area

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Needles, broken glass, and large trash piles are becoming a headache for people in one area of Colorado Springs. The issue revolves around the Park-n-Ride between South Nevada Ave. and Tejon St.

KRDO13 met a concerned resident there who said she wants it cleaned up and more police officers to patrol the area. She comes to the Park-n-Ride early every morning for work and said the trash continues to get worse. Now she feels unsafe in the area after living in Colorado Springs for years.

"We consistently see a lot of trash in this area. It's uncontrolled. It's not clean in this area," said concerned resident, Karen Irons.

She said it's now starting to make her feel unsafe.

"We see drug deals going on in this area on a regular basis. There's drug paraphernalia here. We see people urinating and defecating in this area, which is very sad and unfortunate. It's just ignored," worried Karen Irons.

KRDO13 found out that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is responsible for cleaning up the area. 

CDOT told KRDO13 that cleaning up the area where homeless encampments are can be difficult because they need help from the city.

"Maintenance is really in charge of ensuring that potholes are repaired, guardrails are repaired, that kind of thing. But in addition to that, obviously, people throw trash on the side of the road. So that's part of our responsibility as well. And that's when we go and work on these encampment cleanups with Colorado Springs," said Amber Shipley with the Colorado Department of Transportation.

CDOT said they rely on the city’s homeless outreach team to inform people of clean-ups in advance and for the protection of their maintenance workers.

The agency has now pledged to put this are on its maintenance list to get it cleaned up soon.