COLORADO SPRINGS — A warning to hikers and bikers in Colorado Springs. There are some temporary trail restrictions in place at Stratton Open Space for the next three to four weeks. “They may see a slight detour to get into the property, but once they’re in the open space there’ll be no conflict,” said Colorado Springs Parks, Senior Landscape Architect, David Deitemeyer. It is part of parking lot expansion and other improvements happening at the Ridgeway trailhead.
The parking improvements come after the public process creating the Cheyenne Canon Master Plan. Neighbors in the area looking for relief from overflow cars, ending up along neighborhood streets. Then park users saying they commonly find full parking lots.
Parking expansion at open space parks happens with caution. Too much parking can bring too many people to sensitive environmental areas. It is also important to have developed parking because it works as a tactic to direct and keep people on developed trails. "We need to formalize them to make sure that the resources are still protected and that we have that true infrastructure in place to provide that access point." Many open spaces also have multiple parking lot access point that help disperse people over a broader area of the park.
