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Roundabout project to close busy Serpentine Drive for nearly four weeks in Manitou Springs

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Upgrades to an existing roundabout at the west end of town will close Serpentine Drive for more than three weeks, starting Monday through Sept. 9.

The roundabout is at the intersection of Manitou Avenue and Serpentine, and the town wants to bring the structure up to current design standards that will improve safety for drivers and pedestrians.

KRDO

"We're going to allow for landscaping or something else creative that fits Manitou Springs, to go in the middle there," said Alex Trefry, city spokesman.

City of Manitou Springs

The $46,000 project is funded by the Pikes Peak Regional Transportation Authority's one-cent sales tax; that tax, if extended by voters this fall, will also pay for improving the winding, bumpy Serpentine Road.

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The road passes the entrance to Rainbow Falls, connects to U.S. 24 and is commonly used as a shortcut for westbound highway drivers who want to avoid traffic congestion on Manitou Avenue downtown.

KRDO

Part of the roundabout project is a multi-use trail 10 feet wide that will connect to the nearby Creekwalk Trail along Fountain Creek through town.

Road construction along the west end of Manitou Springs has been ongoing for more than a year, because of a utility project along the avenue that tore up the pavement and required new sidewalks, curbs and repaving; that project is almost finished.

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Kristen Howell, who works at Pikes Peak Ziplines next to the roundabout, said that business has already been slow this summer because of inflation and high gas prices -- and she now worries about the project keeping more tourists away.

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"We're going to have people showing up late because they're going to possibly have the GPS taking them to Serpentine, and then it's going to be closed, so they're going to have to figure out from the highway, how to get through town to here," she explained. "And I take Serpentine every day, which means I'll have to drive through town or make a U-turn on the highway, which isn't safe."

KRDO

Howell can take some consolation in that the project won't keep tourists from reaching her business if they take the eastbound Manitou exit off Highway 24.

Jeffery Marks, a Manitou resident, said that he approves of the project because infrastructure improvement are needed in the growing town.

KRDO

"But this Serpentine little road here, they need to find parking so that people can enjoy the views better, that isn't so close to the edge of the environment and causing more erosion," he said. "I'd rather they spend the money on improving Serpentine Drive."

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Trefry said that during construction, the only way to access U.S. 24 eastbound from the west end of Manitou Springs is from the Washington Avenue entrance or from the U.S. 24 on-ramp in the 200 Block of Manitou Avenue.

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Scott Harrison

Scott is a reporter for KRDO. Learn more about Scott here.

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