"I came to get more information of what the plans are for the Monument trail area."

Rick Kruger and about fifty others came to the public meeting to better understand the new Monument road vision.

Kruger says he thinks it's a good idea and he's not the only one.

"I think it would be wonderful, I live in the Redlands and it would be an opportunity for us to get from our subdivision up near the monument down to downtown without having to go through traffic and get run over by cars," said Kruger.

Richard VanGytenbeek agrees, "I think anything that provides connectivity within the fabric of the community and gets people from an urban point to all of the public lands that surround us, I think it a great way."

Although the vision has received plenty of positive feedback there are some concerns.

"Right now this time of the year there's all this gravel from the snow removal and stuff that goes on," said Kruger.

"We need to respect private property and make sure that either easements or property fees are required," said VanGytenbeek.

Community members are concerned about where people can safely cross the road, and right now there are no crosswalks. and since the speed limit is 50 miles per hour out here, that could put walkers and bikers in a dangerous situation.

Executive Director of Mesa Land Trust, Rob Bleiberg said, "Certainly safety is a big question, that's something we want to bring the city, county, landowners and other recreationists together to talk about."

Despite the concerns most seem to agree the connection would be beneficial to our local economy.

In fact a new National Park Service report shows that people who visited the National Monument in 2011 spent over 23 million dollars in surrounding communities. And that kind of spending supports more than 300 local jobs.

"We know that recreation and the quality of life, the beautiful views and the agriculture in our community are economic drivers. So we feel that anything we can do to conserve these resources is going to be a win for our economy," said Bleiberg.