Gates at Colorado's Lookout Mountain being repaired as Jefferson County looks to add nightly security
Work is underway to fix the newly installed gates on Lookout Mountain in Colorado's Jefferson County that were put in place as part of a nightly closure.
"Whoever decided it was doing so for positive intent," George Jakab said as he rode his mountain bike on a nearby trail.
The intent was to limit criminal activity like drinking and driving, shooting guns and vandalism by closing the roughly 4-mile stretch of roadway to the top.
Three months after the gates were installed, there's a new problem.
"I think through a series of events -- both weather and human -- the beginning of April they were compromised to a point where it actually pulled the motor," said Matt Robbins, spokesperson for Jefferson County Open Space.
Robbins says repairs will be quick, but they do come at a cost.
"Infrastructure wise, it's expensive and we anticipated that, so that was part of the agreement. But now having folks come in and knowingly challenge the gate and physically disarm the gate or try to disarm the gate, the expense continues to grow," he said. "And that comes at a cost to the community."
In response, they plan to have more of a presence on the road at night.
"We are exploring hiring additional staff to have a presence after the closure, so using a rental agency that can help us with that," Robbins said.
While it may be needed now, it was a lack of manpower patrolling the area that led to the gates to begin with.
"How are they helping then if we are still having to use another security company or more people power?" CBS Colorado's Karen Morfitt asked.
"I think that's a fair question. I think that it's really just an interim portion of this process. It's really just about education and we just need to educate folks, and until that happens this is what has to be done," Robbins responded.
At least one frequent visitor to the area seemed to agree.
"The community has to do what is needed to protect the community," Jakab said.
