Cleanup and repairs continue in El Paso County after Monday’s heavy rain, hail, flooding
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- As yet more thunderstorms moved over the Colorado Springs area Tuesday, the recovery process from Monday's severe weather continued.
Erosion from heavy rain led the Colorado Department of Transportation to conduct repairs by temporarily closing a segment of the right northbound lane, just north of the Highway 16 interchange.
The closure began at 6 p.m. Monday and was scheduled to end at 8 p.m. Tuesday, but it caused significant traffic backups on the interstate.
CDOT asked drivers to use Highway 85/87 through Fountain and Security-Widefield as a detour, but many of them had to navigate through crumbling pavement and large potholes in some areas.
Peaceful Valley Road, which Fountain authorities closed at 6 a.m Monday because of flooding from Jimmy Camp Creek, reopened at 11 p.m. Monday.
Fountain officials said that another point of concern was the bridge on Bandley Drive, between Fountain Creek and the east side of I-25 near the CDOT repairs; trees and other debris blocked the flow of drainage from Fort Carson, flooding the road and closing it for an hour.
Some businesses and residents were temporarily stranded when the south end of Bandley also flooded from Fountain Creek.
The nearby Gateway Prayer Garden sustained damage when Fountain Creek flooded through the property -- leaving mud and debris, scattering benches and taking out part of a wooden perimeter fence.
"I've never seen it come this high up the bank," said employee Heidi Knotts. "The creek turned into a river. It'll take a while to clean up the mess. But we're still open."
Fountain officials said that it's impossible to build infrastructure to withstand the intensity of a storm that rarely happens, but they do try and respond as soon as they can to reports of flooding and damage.
Officials said that they thoroughly inspected the Bandley Drive bridge and Peaceful Valley Road, and ensured they were safe before reopening them.
