Utility line projects in Manitou Springs slowing traffic, keeping crews busy through spring and summer

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The history of Manitou Springs dates back to the 1870s, and much of its infrastructure is nearly as old.

Some of the town's water and sewer network has shown its age recently, with four emergency repair or regular maintenance projects since early spring.

The latest repair work happened late Saturday morning when a water main ruptured at the intersection of Ruxton and Osage avenues.

Ruxton is the only direct route to and from the Cog Railway and the Maitou Incline, two of the area's most popular attractions — especially during the summer tourist season.

Crews temporarily closed the intersection to traffic and scrambled to perform a temporary fix, and the intersection reopened by mid-afternoon.

However, town officials will have to decide on a permanent repair strategy at a later date.

Meanwhile, crews had their first weekend off in three weeks at the intersection of Manitou Avenue and Crystal Park Road, since a sanitary sewer line collapsed underneath the street on June 12.

Due to complications with the project, officials rescheduled the completion date to Monday, June 30, but announced that the repairs were completed on the prior Friday.

Officials said that crews will spend the next week repaving and conducting other surface repairs; the traffic impacts that were in place during the sewer repair will continue.

The completion of that project will allow crews to resume work on replacing a water and sewer line along Midland Avenue and Arizona Road; that project was scheduled to start in January but didn't begin until April because of weather delays and is now expected to be finished in late July.

Officials said that such maintenance work reduces the possibility of breaks such as those mentioned above that will require more expensive emergency repairs.

Finally, crews will eventually need to return to Manitou Avenue between Pawnee and Canon avenues to finish temporary repairs to a water main break in February.

Crews temporarily paved over the excavated areas last month to prepare the street for busy summer traffic.

The rash of construction projects has been challenging for nearby business owners.

"People didn't know if we were open because all of the construction was going on in front of our building," said Vanessa Bobian, manager of a Subway restaurant. "So, it affected us a lot. How much? Like, I would say almost 90% of our business."