Pikes Peak Highway
The Pikes Peak Highway is a 19-mile (31 km) toll road that runs from Cascade, Colorado to the summit of Pikes Peak in El Paso County, Colorado, at an altitude of 14,115 feet (4,302 m).[1] It is at least partially open year-round, "weather permitting", i.e. open up to the altitude where snow removal becomes excessively difficult.
The Pikes Peak Highway was constructed in 1915 and financed by Spencer Penrose at a cost of $500,000.[2] However, an earlier road up the mountain, the Pike's Peak Carriage Road, dates back to 1889. Today, the road is maintained by the city of [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs].
The highway has been home to an annual automobile and motorcycle race called the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb since 1916.
Litigation was pursued by the Sierra Club in 1998-1999, on grounds of environmental damage from the gravel portion of the road.[3] The environmental damage is caused primarily by the 150 million pounds of gravel that washes away annually. The same amount needs to be hauled up the mountain each year in order to maintain the road surface. Environmental damage includes alpine ponds and wetlands becoming filled with gravel, and layers of gravel averaging 2-4 feet deep covering the forest floor below[4]. Pursuant to the settlement agreed by the Sierra Club and the City of Colorado Springs, the unpaved portion of the Pikes Peak Highway is slated to become a hard-surface road, despite concerns that such a project would radically change the nature of the annual automobile and motorcycle race. Stated completion date for this paving project is 2012.[5] As of September 11, 2011, only 0.7 miles of the road remains unpaved.
The likes of Pikes Peak Hillclimb champion Rod Millen have warned that paving the road will put an end to the race.[6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ "NGS Data Sheet for Pikes Peak". National Geodetic Survey. http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=JK1242.
- ^ City of Colorado Springs (2002). "History and Geography of Pikes Peak". Archived from the original on 2006-12-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20061209095535/http://www.pikespeakcolorado.com/HistoryGeography.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- ^ Matthew E. Salek (2006). M.E.Salek "Pikes Peak Toll Road". http://www.mesalek.com/colo/other.html#pptr M.E.Salek. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ James Brooke (1998-10-11). "Car Racers Fight for Gravel on Pikes Peak Road". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/11/us/car-racers-fight-for-gravel-on-pikes-peak-road.html.
- ^ Rappold, R. Scott (2006-11-26). "Paving Pikes Peak -- slow and spendy defines the race". The Gazette. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20061126/ai_n16872302/.
- ^ http://www.westword.com/content/printVersion/210371/
[edit] External links
- Official website by the City of Colorado Springs
- The Pikes Peak Web site
- M.E.Salek "Roads of Colorado"
