Crumbling roads suddenly a problem in Hanover community of southern El Paso County

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Residents in this rural community south of Fountain are asking why some of their roads are literally falling apart recently, and becoming potentially unsafe to drive on.

The problem seems most prevalent in two areas: On Hanover Road, between Old Pueblo Road and Meridian Road; and Myers Road, several miles east of Peyton Highway.

KRDO 13's Road Warrior surveyed the damage Wednesday after receiving emails with photos from two viewers.

In some places, the roads seem to be sinking; in others, they've broken apart in lane sections or on entire roads — with pavement crumbling into smaller, gravel-size pieces or larger chunks.

The damage is difficult, if not impossible, for drivers to avoid.

"I pulled over because the road is all messed up," said Sarah Romero, a Hanover resident. "I thought I herd a pop on one of my tires, or maybe messed up the undercarriage of my car. But I guess it was just a rock. I've never seen anything like this in the time I've lived out here."

Hanover has few convenient detours as options to avoid the road mess.

Theories among neighbors as to what's causing the damage: Recent temperature extremes that ranged from -10 below to 65 in the same week; scraping by snowplows; or roads that have simply failed with age.

"Damage to asphalt -- mainly like that, especially when it's just falling apart -- is usually caused by moisture or water," Steve Smith, a neighbor with construction industry experience, explained. "I think that either it was the frost that let loose under it, or the water slid under it, worked into it and just damaged it. And it just fell apart."

Several neighbors said that the worst damage appears to be on Myers Road, east of Hanover High School.

On Wednesday afternoon, The Road Warrior saw several El Paso County crews driving through Hanover, placing signs to alert drivers to the damage, and paving over some of it with asphalt or gravel.

On Thursday morning, more crews and heavy equipment arrived to clean up and repaved one of the heaviest-damaged segments of Hanover Road; work on that project took around four hours.

But there are dozens of other repairs needed.

The Road Warrior will continue to investigate the cause of the road situation, how long repairs will take, and how to prevent it from happening again.