More sinkholes appear on Colorado Springs streets after week of water main breaks; questions remain
A sinkhole that opened Sunday evening in far north Colorado Springs damaged a roadway and caused traffic delays, the Colorado Springs Police Department said.
Police helped shut down North Union Boulevard between Alberta Falls Way and Tochal Drive — roughly two miles southeast of Pine Creek High School — about 6 p.m. Sunday after “the small sinkhole grew and soon swallowed much of the intersection,” police said.
Colorado Springs Utilities responded to the sinkhole to assess if there was a water main leak or stormwater main break, but no leak was found, Jennifer Kemp, a spokeswoman with the agency, said Monday.
A private developer, La Plata Communities, who owns the road, took over the investigation and repairs of the sinkhole Monday.
La Plata Communities did not immediately respond to questions about the sinkhole’s cause or the time frame for repairs.
This is the second sinkhole to appear in the city during the past week in addition to two water main breaks. Kemp said the breaks are isolated incidents and that with 1,600 miles of water service infrastructure, sometimes clusters of breaks occur.
Here’s a list of the city’s sinkholes and water main breaks during the past week:
Garden of the Gods Road
Last Tuesday a water main broke and leaked across Garden of the Gods Road, causing a section of the road to be closed between North Chestnut Street and Rusina Road.
Around 50 feet of the water main was replaced, which included a slight expansion of the project to the east after crews determined an eight-foot section also needed to be replaced over structural integrity concerns, Kemp said.
Westbound lanes of Garden of the Gods Road reopened Saturday. The rest of the road is expected to reopen by mid-week.
The underlying cause of the water main break is still under investigation, Ted Skroback, a spokesman for Colorado Springs Utilities said.
Baymont by Wyndham
A water main that feeds the Baymont by Wyndham on Garden of the Gods Road burst Wednesday before 1:30 p.m., trapping a vehicle in a sinkhole outside the hotel entrance.
The car was towed out of the sinkhole and Colorado Springs Utilities shut of a city water main that fed the private line, Skroback said.
Colorado Springs Utilities said there was no evidence that the break was related to the water main break west of Interstate 25, Kemp said.
The water main was repaired and turned on just before 7 p.m. Friday.
Cheyenne Meadows Park
A water main broke Friday around 8:30 a.m. near Strawberry Field Grove and Suncrest Way.
Crews responded to the water main leak, shut off the water and discovered an 8-inch-diameter pipe ruptured, Eric Isaacson, a spokesman with Colorado Springs Utilities, said.
Eight utilities customers were cut off from water for multiple hours.
The pipe and road were repaired and water was restored within the same day, Skroback said.
The cause of the rupture is still under investigation, Skroback said.










