In January, El Paso County officials sent notices to everyone who lives within 1,000 feet of the new Park N Ride, which will be built south of U.S. 24 and Swingline Road. The plans also call for a ìNewî Meridian Road, according to an Aug. 8, 2017, article in The Gazette. The commuter parking lot will have 208 parking spaces.The Gazette article stated, ìThe plans are part of a list of voter-approved projects that the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority can finance with taxpayer dollars. County money and a federal grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program will also pay for the project.îThe project has been on the countyís to-do list since 2003, as Falcon continued to grow residentially and commercially. But Carrie Bauer, who lives in Vista Ridge in Falcon, said the letter she received in January is the first she had heard of the Park Ní Ride. After attending a January planning commission meeting, where the Park Ní Ride was approved, Bauer had concerns about the necessity of having the commuter lot, along with law enforcement issues and lighting.To address her concerns, officials from the county and the city of Colorado Springs put together a meeting that took place in mid-February. County officials attending the meeting told Bauer the plans had been in the works for at least 10 years. ìThey told me there is no stopping it,î she said. Her concerns relate to policing issues and lighting. At the time of the February meeting, there were no definitive plans for lighting the Park Ní Ride. Bauer also called the El Paso County Sheriffís Office and the Colorado Springs Police Stetson Hills office to determine which agency would be covering the area for criminal activity. ìNeither agencyî is willing to claim responsibility for the Park Ní Ride, Bauer said. County and city representatives from law enforcement told her they would not be responding to calls on suspicious activity at the Park Ní Ride.However, Bauer said Jennifer Irvine, a county engineer, told her the issues of lighting and law enforcement would be resolved.The NFH made three calls to Irvine and sent an email, and received no response. Two calls were made to Dave Rose in the communications department ó no calls were returned. One call to Mark Waller, county commissioner, was not returned. A search of the county website revealed nothing about details like lighting and law enforcement. The city did call back and referred the NFH to the county.Editorís note: We will be following up with this story in our May issue. Obviously, it is difficult to get the information to the public when calls are not returned. That needs to change.
