Much-needed, long-awaited improvements finally come to Serpentine Drive in Manitou Springs

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Drivers will be surprised and pleased at seeing a smoother and safer drive on the roughest parts of Serpentine Drive on the west end of town.

The road's condition was the subject of two reports last month by KRDO 13's The Road Warrior.

The most noteworthy upgrade is at the hairpin turn in front of the entrance to Rainbow Falls that was full of potholes, and cracked and crumbling pavement; a crew recently repaved that short segment.

El Paso County is responsible for the segment and Roy Chaney, Manitou's public works director, said previously that the county was working with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to improve the road.

CDOT owns the upper section of Serpentine that was repaved several years ago, and Manitou owns the lower section from Rainbow Falls to Manitou Avenue.

"We approached the county," Chaney explained. "We were already doing some paving in town, so we just asked our contractor to do it and the county will reimburse us for the $60,000 cost."

A visible line separates that repaving job from the completion of a chip-sealing job on Manitou's part of Serpentine; bright yellow center lines were part of both projects.

The chip-sealing will stabilize the road's condition until it can be repaved next year as part of a wider improvement project.

"We are currently working on our Creek Walk connection from the west part of town here," he said. "So, the idea is we're working with CDOT to do a Creek Walk trail that will go all the way up to Rainbow Falls. When we do that project starting next year, hopefully, then we will then look at the paving project as well, at the same time."

That project will include installing sidewalks from the west end of Manitou to to Rainbow Falls, ultimately connecting the town's trail along Fountain Creek to the Midland Trail in west Colorado Springs.