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Colorado Springs police don't have any information about injuries at this time.

You can expect delays in the area.

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Astrozon Blvd is closed from Astrozon Cir to Nadine Dr. until about midnight, according to Colorado Springs Utilities.

Crews are dealing with a sink hole and watermain break. A News 5 crew is on scene updating information on this closure.

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All lanes of Astrozon Blvd. are closed between Academy and Hancock due to a sinkhole.

The sinkhole was caused by a watermain break at the intersection of Astrozon and Nadine. Colorado Springs police expect the closure to last the remainder of the day. Drivers are encouraged to avoid the area.

A News 5 crew is on scene gathering more information.

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A teen is dead after a crash on southbound I-25 early this morning.

It happened just before 4:30 near mile marker 125. That's just south of Fountain.

All lanes are now open.

State Patrol reports a driver in a Toyota Camry was going northbound in the southbound lanes. The Camry collided head-on with a Fed-Ex truck.

Deputies have not released the name of the driver, but they have told us he is 19 years old from Colorado Springs.

The driver of the truck was 49 year old Steven Hall of Pueblo. He was not injured and will not be cited.

The El Paso County Coroner's office will conduct an autopsy and screen for drugs and alcohol. The crash is still under investigation.

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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - A 52-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a wreck that caused a pregnant woman to lose her fetus.

The Longmont Times-Call reports Gary Sheats appeared in District Court in Boulder on Friday and denied two counts of vehicular assault, two felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident, careless driving and several misdemeanor counts of DUI.

Prosecutors say Sheats crashed into a vehicle at an intersection July 5, leaving Heather Surovik, who was pregnant, in critical condition. Surovik's mother and 5-year-old son also were injured in the crash.

Sheats, whose trial is tentatively set for April, wasn't charged with vehicular homicide because under Colorado law a fetus is considered a part of the mother until born.

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Beginning tomorrow, Grand Avenue will be closed between 16th Street and 17th Street in front of Parkview Medical Center.  The street will close so that a crane can be brought in to move equipment into the hospital.

Northbound traffic on Grand will detour at 16th Street. Southbound traffic will have to detour from 17th Street, to Court Street and over to 15th Street. The portion of Grand Avenue in front of the medical center is expected to reopen the evening of Friday, November 16.

 

 

 

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Public transportation is a constantly evolving discussion in Colorado Springs. It was the first topic as Mayor Steve Bach and members of City Council sat down to chat Wednesday morning. It was one of the Mayor's 'Counsel' Meetings; where they don't vote on anything, but the Mayor and council members have a chance to talk.

The group talked long and short-term solutions to the problems that local transportation has faced in recent years; budget issues, just like every department has had.

"I started losing my vision as a teenager," says John Ferlin, bus rider who spoke with News 5 before Wednesday's meeting. Ferlin has lived in Colorado Springs since the 80s. He bought a house near a bus route.

"I made the choice to live on public transportation, and that was taken away," says Ferlin. "When they changed things five years ago they took away a major part of my life."

Now Ferlin's wife drives him to work.

"If I wanted to come by cab to work it would cost me $56 a day," explains Ferlin.

At the Mayor's 'Counsel' Meeting, a new long-term idea could change things once again for Ferlin, and others that would chose to utilize public transportation.

"Over the next, say, five to ten years I believe we should evolve to a transit concept that is some subset of the city; if you generally want to ride the bus, you should live within a certain zone," says Mayor Steve Bach. Others of the four-of-nine members of City Council in attendance seemed to like the idea.

The idea of planned areas to live for people who chose to ride the bus frustrates Ferlin. The bus used to be his ticket to independence, and getting out with his kids.

"I can't do any of those things without public transportation," explains Ferlin.

However, the Mayor is thinking about the budget.

"I think it's unrealistic to let people continue thinking that if you live out in Banning Lewis Ranch, or if you live in North Gate, that you're going to have regular bus service.; it's just not going to be possible," says Mayor Bach. "Otherwise we're going to have to maintain fewer routes in the rest of the city."

No decisions were made Wednesday; there's plenty of conversation to have moving forward. Ferlin and others like him hope to be a part of that conversation.

In other news for Mountain Metro Transit, rates are going up for para-transit riders. That begins Thursday, November 1st. The new rate will be an additional 50 cents each way, adding up to $3.50 per trip.

 

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LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) - A 70-year-old Loveland woman who was struck by a school bus while walking across the street has died.

The Loveland Reporter-Herald reports Norma Selzler suffered serious head injuries and died Friday night.

Police say she was hit at about 8:50 a.m. Wednesday as the bus driver was trying to make a turn. No students were aboard the Thompson School District bus at the time, and the driver's name has not been released.

The specific school bus in the attached picture is not associated with this story.

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The Douglas County Sheriff's office has sent out a reverse 911 in the area of the crash to let resident know about the suspect who fled the crash scene.

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Construction crews will begin work on a pair of bridges in Colorado Springs Tuesday morning that will restrict traffic to one lane each direction. The first bridge is located along Pikes Peak Avenue between downtown and Memorial Park. The lane closure will actually be in place from Colorado Avenue to Prospect Street.

The second bridge is along Uintah Street between the I-25 on ramp and Cascade Avenue. The lane closures are expected to be in place for approximately 12 hours each day from Tuesday through Thursday.

Delays are expected and drivers are encouraged to take alternate routes when possible.

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The Transit Services Division of the City of Colorado Springs is offering a free public transportation training class for seniors. Older adults who can no longer drive or simply prefer not to, can use public transportation to stay independent. In Colorado Springs bus fair for seniors is 85 cents per trip.

Spend an informative day with transit staff to learn about transportation options and how to use the local transit bus service. The class is free and open to the public. Participants will learn trip planning tips, advantages and disadvantages of various transit options, take an actual ride on a city bus, and more.

CLASS DETAILS

When: Wednesday October 17, 2012

9:00 a.m. - approximately 3:00 p.m.

 

Where: Transit Administration Office

1015 Transit Drive

Colorado Springs, CO 80903

 

How to Register: Please register by October 15, 2012

Call John Oliphint at 385-5620

 

Important: Participants must be able to walk or use their wheelchair to travel approximately two blocks to a bus stop.  Participants need to bring a brown bag lunch and water.  Maximum class size is 25.

 

 

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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - A Longmont man has been sentenced for crashing his pickup into eight cars in Boulder after smoking marijuana and being told by doctors not to drive because he was having problems with seizures.

The Daily Camera reports 43-year-old Sean Marino was sentenced Friday to two years of work release and five years of supervised probation. Marino, who pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular assault, also must undergo substance abuse evaluation and perform 60 hours of community service.

He was arrested in March for crashing into a car near an intersection and hitting a parked car before slamming into four other vehicles at a red light. The impact pushed one of the cars into the intersection, causing it to collide with other cars.

Many of the 20 people involved in the accident were seriously injured.

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All westbound traffic is being detoured onto Chestnut.

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Staff Sergeant David Feaster, a Fort Carson soldier, was killed when his car was thrown from the washboard road on High Plains View. His 11-year-old son watched him die, pinned under the vehicle.

Area residents say neglected roads have been a problem for years. "People are actually driving through pastures because the roads are so bad they're impassible," Tami West told News 5. Her neighbors agreed: Andrea Tucker said, "Some potholes are so big they'll just take your entire tire into it and absorb it." Deanna Halstead told News 5, "My truck, you can hear it just slam into those if you're going even ten miles an hour."

Many people were left asking why the county wouldn't maintain the roads after the developer-- gone bankrupt-- abandoned the project. The answer, County Commissioner Dennis Hisey says, "They're not county roads, they're private roads."

Though the county does own some of the open space that borders the Fort Carson live firing range, there's nothing out there but private homes on private roads-- nothing the county is responsible to maintain.

Lucky for residents, county officials aren't turning a blind eye. Commissioner Hisey told News 5, "I do sympathize with them because the roads really are bad. I drove the roads just a few weeks ago and they're as bad as people say they are."

Hisey is working on a new public improvement project. Last time the roads were evaluated it would have been a multi-million dollar project to bring them up to county standards for regular maintenance.

Since there are so few homeowners to share the burden, Hisey hatched a new plan: one with a $200 annual pricetag per homeowner. "It would be enough not only to grade the road two or three times a year, but it would be enough to start putting some culverts in the low spots and some gravel over areas where it's just dirt and clay. They're [the residents] not looking for a paved four-lane going right to their house, they just want something safe and passable so I think we might be able to get there this time."

To get it done, the Hisey is asking for your help if you live in that area; in order to collect funds to start maintaining the roads, 20% of homeowners need to sign a petition to put the issue on a ballot, which will go to a vote. If enough people agree to pay about $200 per year to keep the roads safe, the county is willing to take on the job.

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