An alternative to an alternative has emerged to the forefront of the greatly debated plan to reroute a popular trail around the Bear Creek watershed in Colorado Springs’ southwest mountains.

On Wednesday, U.S. Forest Service officials met again with the outdoors advocates who have been consulted on the project since its beginnings in 2012, when realignments to trails including the beloved Jones Park Trail (No. 667) were determined to be necessary for the protection of endangered trout in the watershed. Those advocates learned in late August that the Forest Service’s crew that began building the new Trail 667 at the start of the month were halted on the south side of Kineo Mountain. Workers flagged an alternate realignment to the mountain’s north side only to learn that it, like the initial plotted route, would require significant rock blasting.

Now comes a preferred third option: Officials say it is more feasible than the other two and will require less money on top of the project’s previously anticipated $325,000 cost.

It arches farther north of Kineo – straight toward the creek.

Multiple attempts this week to reach the Forest Service officials overseeing the project were unsuccessful, but advocates who attended Wednesday’s meeting said they were told the fish would be safe.

Tim Wolken, who oversees El Paso County parks and has become involved in the project with the alternate routes reaching into county land, wrote in an email that the alignment “will require us to ensure the trail is constructed to minimize any sediment from reaching the creek.”

If the trail is constructed, it won’t be anytime soon. Builders with Trails Unlimited packed up this week at the end of their contract with the Forest Service. The plan had been for the new Trail 667 to be complete by now, replacing the trail running along the creek that some mountain bikers call the best ride in the region. The portion of trail that has history going back to 1873 remains open to users currently, with its unfinished replacement paused at Kineo Mountain.

And rather than move forward, the project will take a sidestep. The new alignment needs approval from U.S. Fish and Wildlife as well as the State Historic Preservation Office. By the time those processes are complete, Wolken said, a new contractor could be sought, or project managers will have to wait for Trail Unlimited’s next availability in spring of next year.

From optimistic to confused to frustrated, feelings are mixed among advocates.

“There was no contingency plan if plan A didn’t work,” said Jim Bensberg with the Colorado Motorcycle Trail Riders Association, advocating for the riders eager to use the reroutes since being barred in 2012 from the Bear Creek watershed trails. “Plan A clearly didn’t work, and we should’ve known months ago plan A wouldn’t work.”

Paul Mead, president of the Friends of the Peak group preserving Pikes Peak, said he thought all along that an alignment north of Kineo Mountain would make sense from a feasibility standpoint. He wondered, though, if the route would be too close to the creek.

“And I thought other people would think that,” he said.

He and others could hear water running below as they walked earlier this week with Forest Service personnel along the flagged route, scenic and stretching 1.2 miles. Those who have toured the site estimate the creek being 100 feet or more away from where the trail would be.

Mead and Cory Sutela, representing mountain bikers with the nonprofit Medicine Wheel, said they might make recommendations that would improve the trail from their perspective. Pikes Peak District Ranger Oscar Martinez has repeatedly stated the project’s purpose in the face of those recommendations: protecting the fish.

“I guess what I’ve learned is our philosophy on trail design is really different from theirs,” said Sutela, who feels not enough thought went into the proposed routes.

Said Mead: “Perhaps not as much review was made on the ground before machinery showed up.”

Advocates sound more pleased with this north-arching alignment than another alternative, which would require rock blasting and would weave to the top of Kineo Mountain, switchback after switchback.

“At the end of the day,” Trails and Open Space Executive Director Susan Davies said, “the goal is to get a good, sustainable trail that people will use and will keep the trout safe – That’s the first thing we have to think about.”

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Contact Seth Boster: 636-0332

Twitter: @SethBoster­­