Colorado Springs crews installing more drains under icy underground spring on Dublin Boulevard
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Late Wednesday morning, public works crews began making the latest repairs to eastbound Dublin Boulevard, near the Peterson Road intersection, where the constant flow of water from an underground spring created a thick layer of ice overnight.
The temperature dropped to 16 degrees in the area, and the ice and frozen slush made for slick driving; a city sign labels the area as a hazardous roadway.
Since KRDO 13's The Road Warrior first reported on the water flow in mid-September, drivers and neighbors have been concerned about the water freezing as colder weather arrived, and increasing the possibility of crashes.
One viewer's social media post on the situation produced 22 responses with varying degrees of concern; some residents said that the street has been icy several times since fall began.
When crews arrived Wednesday, they scraped off some of the ice; closed one traffic lane and began using heavy equipment to dig into the street where the spring is.
A crew supervisor told The Road Warrior that because the street has become such an issue, workers will install more of the French drains that were placed under the pavement earlier this year -- in hopes of draining more of the spring water into nearby Sand Creek.
The additional drains weren't scheduled to be installed until next year, when the city starts a two-year, $15 project to improve Dublin from slightly west of the spring to Marksheffel Road.
"We don't know how many drains we'll put in," the supervisor said. "But it should take us a few days. We'll see if it works."
City officials said that they have been monitoring the area and applying sand or de-icing material when necessary; the street didn't appear to have been treated Wednesday but much of the ice melted and broke apart in heavier traffic and with temperatures rising into the 40s.
Corey Farkas, manager of public works operations and maintenance, said in a recent interview that it's difficult to assign a crew to the area frequently when the department isn't in snow removal operations.
"We're going to need to have a short-term fix that we can do on it, because it'll be unsustainable to go out there and constantly have a truck out there through the winter months as it gets cold," he explained. "So, we're having those conversations now, about what we can do to move forward."
Richard Mulledy, the city's public works director, said that he expected the spring flow to decrease as fewer people water their lawns and raise the local groundwater level; however, melting snow also may have become a contributing factor.
On Wednesday morning, a Colorado Springs Utilities crew was at the site, making paint markings that were used by the daytime crew to guide their drain installations.
