Parking revenue helps Manitou Springs reduce backlog of paving needs
MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Being a popular tourist destination and shopping location has helped the town catch up on street paving.
Roy Chaney, Manitou's public service director, said that parking revenue has generated $300,000 annually in the past few years that funds street paving, sidewalk and crosswalk addition and maintenance, and other infrastructure needs.
He said that the town also receives approximately $200,000 in maintenance funds every year from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority's one-cent sales tax.
"We've gone from 70% of our streets needing repair, to around 30% to 40%," he said. "With this level of funding, I think we can catch up within the next few years.
Manitou has 22 streets on its paving list this year; paving is particularly challenging for a town at the foot of Pikes Peak that has many narrow, winding streets on steep hills.
Chaney said that while town officials and the majority of citizens are pleased with the paving progress, he realizes that a few residents are not.
"Periodically, we get maybe a couple complaints," he explained. "Chip-sealing for example. They ask if we can just repave all of the streets and not do chip-sealing, or slurry-sealing. But that's just not feasible because paving is more expensive. So, we we try to extend the life of streets and try to get them as safe as possible now, and then we try to put more paving in our budget."
The town also is paving some streets that have long been unpaved, such as Rock Road -- and it's getting a concrete surface instead of asphalt.
On Tuesday, crews began chip-sealing the lower section of Serpentine Drive, on the west end of town; Chaney said the work will stabilize the road's poor condition until it can be repaved next year.
