Mar. 31—While public restrooms at Penrose Library in downtown Colorado Springs have reopened after recent testing determined that methamphetamine residue in exhaust vents was not considered to be a danger to library users, less access to bathrooms in Colorado Springs has become a concern.

Some of Mountain Metro Transit's bus drivers have complained repeatedly, beginning in January and continuing through this week, during the public comment period at Colorado Springs City Council meetings that closure of the facilities of the main transit center downtown is affecting their health.

Drivers, who are contracted through Transdev United States, the largest private-sector operator of transit, have mentioned urinary tract, kidney and prostate problems as a result of not being able to find a public restroom during their shifts.

Transient people and others using the bathrooms at the main bus terminal for activities other than their intended purpose has led to temporary closures, stepped-up security and doors to the facilities being propped open to try to curb inappropriate behavior, officials said.

"The downtown transit center has seen a lot of vandalism, the parks struggle with it, even the new ones in Old Colorado City have been vandalized — this is a national issue, not just something Colorado Springs struggles with," said city spokesman Max D'Onofrio.

Colorado has 22 public-access toilets per 100,000 people, according to the 2021 Public Toilet Index by the British company QS Bathroom Supplies. That's half of what Wyoming provides, which has 44 per every 100,000 people, but far more than Louisiana and Mississippi, which rank lowest in the United States at 1 per 100,000 people.

To help address bus drivers' concerns, the restrooms at the main bus terminal at 127 E. Kiowa St., will be closed all day Saturday for "deep cleaning," said Mountain Metro Transit spokeswoman Elaine Sheridan.

"We are bringing in a cleaning service with experience in handling hazardous materials that will deep clean the restrooms," she said.

The work includes fogging, chemical spraying, cleaning ceilings, walls, stalls, fixtures and machine-scrubbing floors, Sheridan said.

The restrooms will reopen Sunday and from then on will only be open only to drivers, employees and passengers, she said.

Drivers also can use restrooms at nearby City Hall, Sheridan added.

"It's a shame," said frequent city bus rider Robert Rais, a resident of Manitou Springs who lectures in the visual and performing arts department at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

While waiting for a bus at the terminal on Thursday, Rais said he's seen evidence of drug use in the bathrooms and is disappointed that people use the public facilities that are supposed to be accessible to all for such activity.

Workers have found syringes indicating drug use in the bathrooms, Sheridan said.

The bus system is not testing for methamphetamine contamination at this time, she said.

"However, we are closely monitoring the situation and will take appropriate action if needed," Sheridan said.

Physical damage has included people destroying and clogging toilets and urinals, kicking in doors and ripping paper towel dispensers from walls, she said.

"We had a ticket vending machine flipped over, and people have urinated and defecated on the floors and have taken baths in the sinks," Sheridan said.

Mountain Metro increased security at the downtown terminal starting last November, particularly around the restrooms, she said, and recently lengthened janitorial hours.

"Security guards monitor the terminal for loitering and inappropriate behavior," she said.

The lack of public restrooms downtown and radiating outward from the city's core has been a contentious issue for decades.

Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs, a merchants' association, has long advocated for a quality accessible public restroom, said President and CEO Susan Edmondson.

"We think it's desperately needed," she said. "It's becoming an increasing problem."

Restrooms at Acacia Park are closed in the fall and winter, D'Onofrio said, largely because they are not heated.

They also are not handicapped accessible, Edmondson said.

The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum has restrooms for public use, D'Onofrio said, and public city and county buildings allow use of their bathrooms.

But those building are not near businesses and are not always open on weekends, when shoppers are more likely to frequent the area's shops and restaurants, Edmonson said.

With the loss of two full-sized Starbucks coffeehouses downtown, which often allow anyone to use their restrooms, coupled with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer businesses are willing to help people answer the call of nature.

"It's a daily request from our small businesses to have a public restroom that they could direct patrons to," Edmondson said. "It's just human dignity, and the burden of providing these services should not rest with the small business person."

Some chain stores also restrict restroom use by the public by requiring a code for entry or making them available for customers only. For example, Safeway recently began locking restrooms inside some of its locations.

"For the safety of our associates and customers, we have installed restroom locks at a handful of our stores in Colorado," said Kris Staaf, spokeswoman for the Albertsons Safeway Denver Division.

That includes the Safeway at 3275 W. Colorado Ave.

The 7-Eleven at 310 W. Uintah St. also recently posted a sign on its front door saying it has no public restroom available.

"Homeless people doing things in the bathroom" was the reason a clerk gave.

Downtown draws about 1 million visitors per month, Edmondson said.

"This is really a municipal issue of where you have high demand and lots of people in public spaces and being able to meet that need," she said. "It mostly falls to a municipal government level."

D'Onofrio said more discussion about the issue will continue, as the city develops a new parks management plan.