Drivers Struggle With Icy Roads After Snowstorm

The intersection of Powers Boulevard and Barnes Road in east Colorado Springs was a difficult area for some drivers to navigate on Thursday.

Between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., there were two crashes involving four vehicles. Police cited icy streets and speeding as factors in the accidents. The crashes backed up traffic at the height of the rush hour period.

In the first accident, two vehicles southbound on Powers collided and skidded off the road just south of the intersection. A driver was initially trapped inside the vehicle after it flipped on its side against a power pole. Crews extricated the driver from the car and took him to a hospital as a precaution. Police said the second driver wasn’t hurt.

The second accident was a head-on collision in the intersection. Police said a southbound Powers vehicle collided with a westbound Barnes vehicle. One driver was taken to a hospital with injuries believed to be minor, police said, and the other driver wasn’t injured.

Police said two of the drivers were traveling south down a hill on Powers and may have been unable to stop or slow down in the slick conditions.

Dave Scalfri, a supervisor with the city’s streets division, said crews first had trouble making progress in clearing roadways because snow continued to fall through the day. However, once the snow stopped in the evening, Scalfri said crews made enough progress to end the shift early at 10 p.m..

The shift for a morning crew begins at 3 a.m. Friday. Police ask drivers to slow down and drive carefully as many people will try to leave work or town early for the Christmas weekend.