Water main break closes Academy Boulevard at Maizeland through weekend
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A water main break caused a rush of water to cascade down Academy Boulevard Friday afternoon, but Colorado Springs Utilities said that the area may be closed through the weekend while crews work to fix it.
The break is at Academy and Maizeland Road, and it happened around 2:30 p.m. Friday. Police were called to direct traffic around the break, and a detour is in place. A KRDO crew drove through the intersection at 3 p.m., while the flooding was at its worst.
"The timing sounds right," a witness said. "Because I went through the area at 2:15 and nothing was wrong then."
The break created a colossal mess as a heavy flow of dark brown water, darkened by and mixed with sediment under the street, flooded Academy in both directions, as well as nearby sidewalks.
Traffic quickly backed up as evening rush hour approached, with some drivers droving slowly through the gushing water while others detoured around it.
The break may have seriously undermined the stability of the street, as water was seen bubbling up from cracks in the street near the actual break.
One woman was upset about the situation.
"I'm trying to get home and I can't," she said. "The detours are long and none of them get me home. Who's in charge here?"
Moments later, she fell in the street near the break while trying to walk to a police officer. A bystander helper her up and she wasn't seriously hurt.
The break forced several nearby businesses to close on what's usually a busy Friday night.
"I knew something was wrong when we suddenly stopped getting customers after being busy all day," a Carl's Jr. employee said. "I went on break and when I came back, the manager sent everyone home. I was supposed to work a full shift tonight."
CSU says it's not clear what caused the break just yet. A spokesperson told KRDO that the intersection would be closed through the weekend due to the necessary repairs.
#ColoradoSpringsFire is on scene of a major water main break at Maizeland and Academy. All lanes of traffic are being rerouted around the intersection. Unknown how long intersection will be shut down #traffichazard pic.twitter.com/SxtmNiDcGY
— CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) March 19, 2021
As of 7 p.m. Friday, Academy was closed in both directions from just north of Maizeland, south to Constitution Avenue. Maizeland was closed a block in both directions at Academy.
