Tree removal project Monday beiefly slowed traffic on busy Ruxton Avenue in Manitou Springs
Scott Harrison
MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The main route to the Manitou Incline and Cog Railway experienced slightly more traffic congestion Monday because of a project to remove several trees that were too close to the street.
Manitou officials announced Friday that the downhill (southbound) side of Ruxton Avenue — a narrow corridor on the west side of town — would be closed between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. for the project.
Flaggers were on duty to direct traffic through the uphill (northbound) lane during the tree removal.
Tall Timbers Tree Service conducted the tree removal, using a three-person crew with heavy equipment.
“We’re going to be sectioning it off, breaking pieces down, and then chipping or hauling the material away,” said Dylan Schreiber, a manager for Tall Timbers. “We have some high power lines in the game that we have to be careful about.”
Schreiber said that the owner of the rental property where the trees are, paid to remove the trees for other reasons: They have damaged the building’s foundation, the sidewalk and tree roots and even clogged the plumbing.
“A lot of pipes that we have out here, are clay pipes,” he explained. “So that with any little cracking, these invasive roots can get in there and cause problems.’
Schreiber also said that his crew worked around rainy weather Monday.
According to him, the trees are Russian elm — an invasive species that grows quickly and is difficult to control.
“(Gen. William) Palmer, when was starting Colorado Springs, so I’ve been told, he brought Siberian elms out here, not knowing that they were invasive,” Schreiber said. “And now, we have them everywhere. We’ll never eliminate them. They’re just part of our environment now.”
Additionally, the city said that Mountain Metro Route 33 to the Pikes Peak Cog Railway was affected during this work.
The crew finished the job by 1 p.m.