Nighttime gates to block Lookout Mountain access to deter criminal activity

Road closure gates are now going up on Lookout Mountain to close the road at night to prevent trouble that has plagued the area.

"There's been things happening up here that just don't need to be so we say shut it down," said local resident Joanne Uleau. "There's always trash. There's been dead bodies."

The trouble has largely come at night said Jefferson County Open Space ranger Mary Ann Bonnell.

"Discharging firearms. People drinking and driving. There's a lot of evidence of drug use up there," she listed. "These are not things that are happening during the day necessarily. This is nighttime activity."

The county has decided to put up gates to shut down the road each night. The gates are now being installed and there are plans to begin the closures on Nov. 11, but they are still waiting for Xcel Energy to run power to the gates. They will be located at Chimney Gulch Trailhead above where the last homes are at the bottom of the road and at the top by Lookout Mountain Park. The section is 4.1 miles of Lookout Mountain Road where there is mostly parkland, but no homes. It will mean no travel down or up the mountain at night for all but emergency responders and workers servicing antennas on the mountain.

"I understand people don't like to have anything taken away from them," said Bonnell about objections to the plan. The county has made some adjustments to the plan for closures after talking to local residents.

"So we heard from the community that they wanted more time. And so in the winter what we're going to do is a 7 p.m. to a 5 a.m. closure," she said about times of the year when there is less daylight. From mid-March through the end of October, the gates will be open an hour before sunrise and closed an hour after sunset.

Some locals wonder what will happen with the people who do show up and what kind of enforcement there might be. Sean, a man who lives in the area, but wished to withhold his last name, said, "Just wondering what the party's going to look like if they're just going to take the party right around here to Lookout Mountain Park or over there by Buffalo Bill."

The county has designed the gates to enable their remote opening and by code. First responders will be able to pass through and there will be a way to call dispatchers and get a code to open the gate if they are trapped.

The county is planning to add signs to inform people they will not be able to pass through the gates at certain hours.

In fires, exit down Lookout Mountain Road is not the best way evacuation route says Bonnell.

"Most emergency responders do not recommend Lookout Mountain Road for an emergency." The road with its hairpin turns cannot accommodate vehicles greater than 30 feet in length. People towing trailers in an evacuation could become stuck. Highway 40 and Interstate 70 are better routes. Still, there are plans to open the road at night if there is an emergency.

"In a fire what we would expect to do is have that road staffed by someone who can handle that traffic incident. And tell someone with a trailer you're going to need to turn around otherwise you're going to get everyone stuck on this road."

There are certain lessons to be learned. There remain questions about people who remain after the road is closed. But the closure will mean change and learning.

"It looks kind of flimsy. We could get out if we have to," laughed local resident Dale Ritschard.