Crews stop troublesome underground spring leak onto Dublin Boulevard in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The last time it was this cold overnight, a week before Thanksgiving, a section of Dublin Boulevard became a sheet of ice as water flowing from an underground spring froze on the pavement.
It was something thing that many drivers feared would happen after the leak developed earlier this year.
However, thanks to the work of city public works crews, the water hasn't leaked since then. A large asphalt patch on top of the spring has remained dry since crews made repairs after a report by KRDO13's The Road Warrior on Nov. 20.
On that day -- later that morning as the ice broke apart and melted -- workers began digging into the pavement with heavy equipment and spent several days at the site.
Corey Farkas, the city's manager of public works operations and maintenance, cited the more precise placement of a French Drain (added to other drains already installed) as the reason for redirecting the spring flow.
"Yeah, they go ahead and they dig down in that specific area, and they found a vein of water, a pretty good vein of water that was coming out and installed that drain, got the water moving to where it needed to be," he explained.
The water drains into nearby Sand Creek.
Farkas said that dealing with underground springs under streets and roads is a fluid situation.
"We've got subsurface water all over the place," he said. "That's why we called Colorado Springs. So, when that happens, there could be no water for a number of years. And then, a construction project impacts subsurface water that moves it to another spot."
The leak developed not far from the ongoing three-year project to widen the north end of Marksheffel Road. It was first thought that the spring was fed by increased groundwater from the lawn watering of nearby homes but the water continued to flow constantly, even during drier conditions.
In the spring of 2025, the city will start a two-year, $15 million improvement project to widen Dublin east to Marksheffel and provide better drainage control.
The Dublin leak was similar to a spring that developed on the north side of the 8th Street hill near Motor City and had been a problem for years -- causing a thick layer of ice to accumulate, blocking driveways to nearby businesses and making travel slick for traffic, cyclists, and pedestrians.
The city finally resolved it in late 2020 by upgrading an existing French drain so that water flowed under the street to the sunnier side where it was less likely to freeze as it drained into Bear Creek.
Underground springs also developed at the site of two major construction projects: The overpass at Powers Boulevard and Research Parkway that was finished in 2022, and the recently-finished overpass at Interstate 25 and South Academy Boulevard.
An underground flow of water in October, at the intersection of Chelton Road and Astrozon Boulevard was first thought to be an underground spring was was later determined to come from a leak in a water line.
