Crews Working To Repair Route 22 Sinkhole
PLUM (KDKA) – Crews are working to repair a sinkhole in Plum following a water main break over the weekend.
According to officials, the water main break happened on Route 22 Saturday morning. Today, a passerby called police to report a sinkhole around 4:30 a.m.
Crews are at the scene and the eastbound side of the road had been closed between Alpine Village Drive and the Route 286 offramp in Plum.
However, one lane is now open in both directions in the area.
This is expected to have a major impact especially on the evening commute.
"Unfortunately, we did not plan for this to happen. It's a perfect storm of events. The water break, cold weather, sinkhole, on a very busy roadway," Monroeville Municipal Authority Superintendent Joe Storey said.
Storey said a water main break over the weekend at the intersection of Route 22 and Alpine Ridge Drive weakened the pavement leading to the sinkhole. As a result, crews to shut down Route 22 to make road repairs.
"We are detouring everyone onto the [Route] 286 eastbound offramp. Northern Pike is still open, but you cannot make a right turn onto Route 22," Storey said.
"There's other ways that people can take, but I don't know how that's [going to] work. And I don't think that people are aware of this, which is really bad," Anglea Lauer said.
Storey said because of the weather conditions, repairs will take time. He also said they have to use concrete, which will take a while to cure.
"We are working diligently to repair the problem and get the road opened back up as soon as we can," Storey said. "It's [going to] be bad for the next 24 hours."
As for the water main break, crews put three valves on the main to redirect the waters so no one was without service until repairs can be made.
Actual repairs on the water main likely won't happen until the summer.
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