By R. Scott Rappold, The Gazette

After more than a decade of planning and talking, Colorado Springs Utilities will begin building trails this year in the South Slope watershed of Pikes Peak.

Bowing to public pressure, Utilities officials have sped up their time line for opening the long-closed watershed, a remote and scenic area that contains several reservoirs. Original plans, announced in January, called for trail-building in 2011 at the earliest. While a date has not been set, the area could be opened to public recreation this summer.

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