PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A massive sinkhole opened up on a West Philadelphia street Wednesday morning.
It is located at the intersection of 57th and Media streets. Media Street is closed to traffic between 56th and 57th streets.
It is not yet known what caused the ground to collapse or if Tuesday's rain had any effect.
Neighbors walked around the hole to get a glimpse of it. Many said a lot of work has been done in the area recently, particularly pothole repairs, and they are frustrated with the ongoing issues at this site.
Anthony, who lives nearby, said a repair was completed just two weeks ago. It looked like everything was good to go, so he was shocked to find an even bigger hole when he went on his morning walk Wednesday.
“When they was making the repair, they put the metal plate over top so cars could run back and forth, back and forth. Repaired it. Put the blacktop over it. Went about their business. Apparently they didn’t do a good job,” he said.
Anthony isn’t alone in that thinking. While stopped at a light, a driver told KYW Newsradio that every time he drove his minivan through the intersection in recent weeks, it felt like the road was becoming softer and less stable.
While this is a big headache for drivers and neighbors, it could have been much worse if someone was on the road at the moment the collapse occurred.
KYW reached out to the Streets Department for comment, which in turn referred to the Water Department. KYW has not yet heard back from department officials.
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