EVANSVILLE – Yet another large sinkhole has shut down yet another city street.
According to a post on the City of Evansville’s Facebook page, East Virginia Street just past North Willow Road will be shut down for at least a day due to a “pavement failure.” The post, however, misnames North Willow Road as “Willow Street.”
A photo accompanying the post showed a gargantuan hole hollowed into the middle of Virginia. The post says crews are “on site and working diligently to excavate and repair the issue, but the closure will remain in place until at least tomorrow.”
It’s at least the second giant sinkhole to close a street in Evansville in the last few months. The lingering chasm on Riverside Drive near downtown has kept that street blocked in both directions for several months as crews wait for the river to dip low enough for Evansville Water and Sewer Utility workers to access a potentially damaged sewer line under the road.
Multiple nearby buildings, including the Masonic Temple and Trinity United Methodist Church off Chestnut Street, have flooded several times since city crews pumped gravel and other filler into the hole to stabilize it.
Troy Wilson, a rep for the temple, has blamed the filler for blocking the sewer drains and causing water to gather in the basements. In a statement to the Courier & Press, EWSU Executive Director Vic Kelson has declined to “speculate as to what exactly caused the high-water level in the combined sewer.” He said several factors could be to blame.
That’s not the only problem. Last week, a truck careened into the hole after its driver swerved around multiple barricades. No one was injured.
A third sinkhole, this one on North Weinbach Avenue, briefly blocked off that area in early April.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Another sinkhole in Evansville shuts down another city street
Reporting by Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
