Talks are about to begin in the Colorado Springs parks department’s stalled effort to decide on electric-powered bikes’ legal place, or lack thereof, on city-owned trails.

Lonna Thelen, who manages the city’s Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) program, recently told the parks board of upcoming task force meetings intended to determine a new policy for e-bikes.

That’s to meet what observers have seen over the years as new and growing interest in e-bikes, increasingly seen roaming trails popular among hikers and mountain bikers despite rules against them. The city’s current policy limits Class 1 e-bikes — providing motorized boosts for pedaling riders — to urban, commuter paths, like the Pikes Peak Greenway.

Set to start this month, the task force meetings will include individuals and representatives spanning a “wide range of interest groups,” Thelen told The Gazette in an email.

The goal, she said: “in a short period of time identify one or two directions for e-bikes and parameters for those directions.”

In the summer of 2021, the city was poised to allow e-bikes on trails where other bikes are allowed for a study and review period that was meant to inform a permanent policy. That pilot program was scrapped amid legal questions regarding TOPS, the program setting aside sales tax portions for parkland. TOPS’ voter-approved charter from 1997 prohibits motors on TOPS-funded properties — including e-bikes’ electric motors, challengers contended.

Last year, parks department leadership suggested broad e-bike access would hinge on a question for voters that would revise the TOPS charter. Advocates expect that question to be explored in the task force meetings.

Thelen said the meetings would review policies in other jurisdictions; several Front Range counties have determined access expansions and limitations. Along with legal requirements, Thelen listed other “important considerations” as conservation easements, resource protection and ADA requirements.

One prominent advocacy group in town, Trails and Open Space Coalition, has voiced support for Class 1 e-bikes on city-owned trails where other bikes are allowed, while the Springs’ leading mountain biking group, Medicine Wheel, has sought a “careful, incremental approach” that would identify “appropriate” places for e-bikes.

Ahead of the proposed pilot from 2021, a survey showed split opinions on the technology. Some praised e-bikes for granting outdoor excursions otherwise unattainable, while others worried about safety and impacts to the environment and overall trail experience.

Following results of the task force meetings, Thelen said the city “will work to create a process to involve the public to allow all voices to be heard.”

An e-bike meetup group takes the Santa Fe Trail to Palmer Lake on Sunday, June 4, 2017. Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette

JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE