The Springfield News-Leader is reporting that Branson Mountain Adventure Park announced it has begun construction on a "mountain coaster" at its site on a steep hillside at the former Butcher Hollow property.

General manager Matt Meadows told the News-Leader the coaster will open in July.

According to a news release Friday, "The Runaway" coaster is a $5 million project, billed as a family attraction that will be "the area's first mountain coaster." The coaster and the park are located along Highway 165, two miles from Highway 76.

"We will have additional attractions coming," he said in an email. "We are just starting with the mountain coaster."

Ziplines, "mountain Segways" and a treetop course are among the things considered for the future, Meadows said.

A mountain coaster "uses gravity to wind the coaster down the mountain," said project manager Dan Ruda in a News-Leader report published in March. There are many in Europe, he said; few in the United States.

Source: The Springfield News-Leader