Sinkhole repair shuts lane on Montebello Drive

The westbound lane of Montebello Drive near Garden Way was closed Wednesday after a sinkhole developed in the road.

The sinkhole measured just a foot by 18 inches on the pavement of the busy road.

But it was 5-6 feet by 10 feet wide, and 7 feet deep, under the asphalt, said Bard Lower of the city’s Street Operations Office.

Lower said sinkholes occasionally have opened up on city streets, but the hole under Montebello is one of the largest he’s seen.

He said it was caused by a 48-inch stormwater pipe that broke under the road. Water collected by the pipe from recent rains then washed away the dirt holding up the asphalt.

A Colorado Springs Utilities’ crew working on Garden Way noticed the sinkhole and contacted the streets division, which blocked off the area around the hole.

Street crews are detouring traffic on westbound Montebello into a biking and parking lane. Lower said it could take up to a week to repair the pipe, fill the hole and repave the street.

The recently established Stormwater Enterprise will pay for repairing the pipe and filling the hole.