Depression in CTrain parking lot strands 3 cars

Probe launched at Crowfoot station: ‘We didn’t know what’s under there’

A section of the Crowfoot CTrain Station parking lot is taped off after the city and fire department discovered a depression in the ground.

Calgary Transit was alerted by a customer about a pavement tripping hazard in the parking lot Tuesday evening.

Transit officials, who are not calling the depression a sinkhole, continue to investigate and planned to use a camera scope Wednesday to determine the extent of the problem.

“I’ve not seen one like this in my time here,” said Stephen Patrick, manager of Calgary Transit infra- structure, of the depression’s size.

“It’s kind of an unusual occurrence.”

For safety reasons, it was determined that three vehicles in the parking lot were not movable. The owners were contacted and notified that the vehicles will have to remain on the property for 24 hours.

Patrick said crews are working to ensure vehicles can be moved as soon as possible.

“Those were the ones that we didn’t dare move just in case, (because) we didn’t know what’s under there,” he said.

An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the depression.

“We’re really just going to be putting cameras down into manholes to take a good look and see if there’s any damage to the existing infrastructure,” said Patrick. “We’ll get the preliminary stuff done (Wednesday) and then we’ll do some excavating in the next few days to determine the bulk of what the remediation process is going to look like. It’ll take a while.”

The area will remain taped off and monitored until the vehicles are removed and repairs have started. A portion of the sidewalk is also blocked off, but customers can still access the CTrain station.

“Don’t be planning on parking here (Thursday),” Patrick said Wednesday.

DARREN MAKOWICHUK Calgary Transit says the owners of these three cars parked at the Crowfoot CTrain station Tuesday evening were told their cars would have to remain on the lot for 24 hours while officials looked into what caused a depression in the pavement. Officials said they would use a camera scope to check out the problem.