Airport Road to close at South Academy in Colorado Springs for sinkhole repairs
A portion of Airport Road will close temporarily next week so Colorado Springs Utilities crews can repair a sinkhole.
East- and westbound Airport Road will close at South Academy Boulevard Monday morning through June 28 as crews conduct the emergency repairs, according to a joint press release from the city and the utility.
All business entrances will remain open and accessible during the repair work, the news release said. Travelers should expect delays and use alternate routes.
By Friday afternoon, traffic moving north and south on South Academy was down to one lane, and excavators were on site doing repair work.
The sinkhole is in an area where the city has been upgrading South Academy Boulevard. Since mid-May and continuing through the summer, east- and westbound Airport Road has been closed west of South Academy. That work is part of a $62 million project upgrading parts of South Academy for the first time in 55 years.
Colorado Springs Utilities spokesman Alex Trefry said Friday the utility is investigating how the sinkhole occurred. Crews will excavate the road to better determine what caused the sinkhole and decide the next steps for mitigation, Trefry said.
On June 29, Airport Road will stay closed west of South Academy as part of ongoing upgrades to South Academy. All businesses will remain open and accessible throughout this work, project officials said in a Friday newsletter. Travelers should use alternative routes during this closure.
South Academy Boulevard is currently reduced to a single lane of travel in each direction between Bijou Street and Airport Road. This portion of South Academy will reopen to two lanes in each direction June 28. The night of June 30, crews will move travel lanes on South Academy Boulevard to the outside of the roadway, to begin work building new medians and paving the inside lanes with new asphalt.
All traffic movements will remain open at Bijou Street and Pikes Peak Avenue, project officials said.
Jet Wing Drive too remains fully closed at South Academy Boulevard throughout the month so crews can complete underground work on the east side of the roadway.
Traffic detours north to Hancock Expressway to access South Academy Boulevard. Crews will reopen Jet Wing Drive once underground work progresses north, the newsletter said.
