Boulder left in road after semi driver runs over rocks in downtown Co. Springs & drags it 2 miles

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Crews blocked one right lane on westbound Cimarron Street headed towards I-25, due to a boulder that was left in the roadway on Thursday afternoon. It came after the semi allegedly made a tight turn at a narrow intersection, that had multiple boulders on its corner.

Crews say a semi was driving westbound on Fountain Boulevard when it turned onto Webber Street and hit three boulders. Two of them were dragged about 100 feet, and the other was dragged about two miles, all the way to Cimarron near the on-ramp for the interstate.

The drag mark for that boulder could be seen distinctly down Webber Street, and could be traced all the way to Cimmaron, fading slightly over the two miles.

A police officer on scene of the intersection initially told KRDO13 that police were investigating the incident as a hit and run, due to the inclusion of the boulders as property damage.

However the communications department for CSPD later that afternoon stated that through the course of their investigation, and in talking to the driver, they determined that there was no certifiable property damage, and with no other parties were involved in the incident, they dropped the label of hit and run.

The driver was not cited with any traffic infractions.

City crews were then called in to pick up the boulder along Cimarron, as well as the other two large rocks that were dislodged along Webber. A ring doorbell camera showing one of those in the middle of the road, and the small forklift being towed to the intersection to begin moving the decorative boulders into place.

Sherie Trotter is an employee at a law firm right next to the intersection. She was wathcing in her car as she had lunch, as the crews got to work, not knowing what had initially caused all of the commotion.

"It was a pretty delicate procedure he was doing. It was kind of like he was doing surgery." Trotter said laughing, about the fork lift.

Meanwhile a homeowner, and a business owner next to the intersection tell KRDO13 that semi trucks make the extremely tight right turn onto Webber Street very frequently.

They explained that the HOA for their homes actually had the boulders put in a few years ago on purpose, because the sprinkler system on that corner used to get damaged from the tires going over the curb.

KRDO13 asked the City of Colorado Springs about why semi truck drivers are would be allowed to drive through such a narrow intersection, but the City was unable to provide someone who could properly explain the rules and regulations over specific roadways and what vehicles can drive on them.

A map from February 2024 that was posted online by the City, shows that vehicles with four axles or less, indicated by the pattern of small black squares, are instructed to turn on Wasatch along Fountain Boulevard, while Webber appears to only carry a truck designation, in the thick black line, going north. You can view the full map here.

City rules do also explain that for the operation of trucks, a driver, "may deviate from truck routes while traveling to or from a truck terminal, garage, place of repair, place of performing a service or place of loading or unloading."

It adds that "When traveling to a destination located within a truck route zone, a truck shall take the shortest direct travel path from any point along the perimeter truck routes to the destination."

It was unclear where the driver was headed while dragging the boulder.