Tribune Tri Lakes 8.7.13
August 7, 2013
Tri-Lakes
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
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Tri-Lakes Region, Monument, Gleneagle, Black Forest and Northern El Paso County • Volume 48, Issue 32
North Gate exits will get a makeover this fall Construction was supposed to begin in July By Danny Summers
Dsummers@ourcoloradonews.com The northbound and southbound North Gate exits will be getting a makeover. Construction to reconfigure the exits from Interstate 25 to North Gate Boulevard could begin in September, according to a spokesman with the by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). “We’re still in the process of finalizing the dates and submitting our plans to the Air Force Academy,” said Amy Ford, CDOT’s communications director. “Originally, the plan was a three-month construction schedule. But we’ve come up with an expedited process. Now we’re looking at getting it completed in two weeks.” Construction was originally supposed to begin in mid July and last through October. But Ford said Academy officials expressed concerns over a construction project that would cause long delays over an extended period. “We’re excited about getting this going, but we have to make sure this works with the Academy,” Ford said. “We want to make sure we’re all on the same page.” Plans call for the loop ramps for exits 156A and 156B to be removed to create a roundabout where the ramps intersect with North Gate Boulevard. The purpose of the new design is to regulate traffic flow from Interstate 25 to eastbound and westbound North Gate Boulevard. The main purpose for the roundabout will be to improve traffic flow through the area. The idea is that people won’t have to stop and will be able to travel in a continual motion. During construction, loop ramps for both exits will remain open for traffic to access North Gate Boulevard. Access to and from the Air Force Academy will also be provided.
The North Gate exits 156A and 156B are expected be upgraded this fall, allowing for a smoother flow of traffic through the area. Photos by Danny Summers Kiewit Infrastructure is the contractor of the Interstate 25 expansion project. It is developing plans to minimize delays, according to Ford. Academy officials have cautioned their own personnel to plan ahead and allow extra time to account for construction delays. The North Gate project will also have an impact on business in the area, especially the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, which is located just west of Struthers Road “Hopefully the access to our property will be better once that construction is completed,” said museum manager Dave
Futey. “We’re looking to upgrade our signage at the front (along North Gate Blvd.) But before we get any sort of new signage we need to know what this is all going to look like.” Perhaps the business that will reap the greatest benefit by the project is Pro Bass Shops, which is scheduled to open Nov. 14. Pro Bass Shops is located about a half-mile off North Gate and will be the major tourist draw to the area along with Mining Museum and Academy. The North Gate construction is a part of the I-25 expansion project that began in March. It is a $66.4 million plan to add one
lane in each direction of the interstate between Woodmen Road and State Highway 105 in Monument. Construction for the 11mile expansion is expected to wrap-up by early 2014. According to the CDOT web site, future plans call for new North Gate on and off ramps that will hook up with Powers Boulevard. The new ramps would be located south of the Mining Museum. “That’s a few years down the road,” Ford said. “We have to first get the funding in place for that 3 ½-mile stretch of Powers Boulevard.”
If you go to Pikes Peak, be sure to wear wildflowers in your hair Watchers and preservationists have long, local history By Rob Carrigan
rcarrigan@ourcoloradonews. com Though it may be a surprise to no one, wildflower watchers and preservationists have a long history in the Pikes Peak Region. The earliest recorded nonnative activity in the area was the Army’s Major Stephen Long Expedition of 1820, which discovered the Colorado State Flower, the white and lavender Columbine, somewhere between Monument and Palmer Lake. “The white and lavender Columbine, Aquilegia caerulea, was adopted as the official state flower on April 4, 1899 by an act of the General Assembly. In 1925, the General Assembly made it the duty of all citizens to protect this rare species from needless destruction or waste. To further
Georgia has nothing on these Colorado yellow daises. More wildflower photos on page 15. Photo by Rob Carrigan protect this fragile flower, the law prohibits digging or uprooting the flower on public lands and limits the gathering of buds, blossoms and stems to 25 in one day. It is unlawful to pick the Columbine on private land without consent of the land owner,” according to the the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration. In June of 1820, Major Steven Long and 22 men left what is now
POSTAL ADDRESS
Nebraska to explore the source of the Platte River. After more than three weeks of crossing the tall grass prairies of eastern Colorado, the expedition finally reaches the base of Pikes Peak. Major Long was anxious to continue, but was persuaded by Dr. Edwin James, a naturalist with the expedition, to wait a couple days. James wanted the delay so he could climb Pike’s Grand Peak.
Long reluctantly agreed and provided Dr. James three days to climb the peak, make his observations and return to camp. Dr. James and two men reach the summit on the afternoon of the second day and spend only an hour on the summit before it is time to start the trip back down. James returns to Long’s encampment in time to make the prescribed deadline, having managed to scale the mountain. In addition, he made extensive notes in his journal and documented examples of previously unknown plants and flowers, including Colorado’s state flower, the blue Columbine. Long was so impressed, he named the mountain for him, declaring it James Peak, but, of course, it didn’t stick. In the 1890s, Edlowe, near Woodland Park, was one destination of the Wildflower Excursion run by the Colorado Midland. The Wildflower Excursion carried passengers from Colorado City to Edlowe who were interested
in picking the ubiquitous blue columbines in the area. One favorite destination, the meadow west of Edlowe, was used on almost all of the excursions according to Mel McFarland, in writings from 1980. The Wildflower was one of the Colorado Midland’s popular excursions, according to Celinda Kaelin in her book “Pikes Peak Back Country.” Dr. H.A. Burton, whose father was a Colorado Midland engineer related the following: “The Midland’s famous Wildflower Excursions proved to be a source of summertime spending money for the children of Florissant. We boys looked forward eagerly to the summertime tourist season and the daily and the daily operation of the flower train.” According to advertisements running in Colorado Springs papers, a one-day trip left Colorado Springs at 8:45 a.m and turned around at west end of Eleven Mile Canyon, returning to the Springs by 5 p.m.
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