Sinking feeling is tiring drivers
If size matters, then the sinkhole threatening to swallow Hiawatha Rd. is a really big deal.
Sinkholes are usually caused by a water leak under the street that washes away the gravel and compacted soil that forms road bed, creating a soft spot or even a cavity beneath the road.
With nothing to support it, the pavement starts to collapse as traffic passes over it, forming a hole that can grow quickly, depending on the extent of the washout. Most are nipped in the bud, before they become a serious problem, but if the leak that’s undermining the road bed isn’t shut down quickly, the hole can take on cavernous proportions.
That’s an apt description of a sinkhole that is quickly consuming Hiawatha Rd., just south of Dundas St., which is big enough for a car to disappear into, if a driver sailed through the pylons around it.
Guillermo del Aguila sent us a note saying “this sinkhole has been growing bigger and bigger,” since last September, when he first reported it to the city. “We live right in front of it and because of it we lost access to our private driveway,” he said, adding he called last week and was told the file from his first complaint had been closed, but a new one was opened.
Clearly, it is on the city’s radar now, judging by the ring of traffic barrels and caution tape surrounding it. And none too soon, considering the telltale signs of a water leak all around it.
Water was bubbling out of a valve and across the sidewalk, less than 10 metres away, while the pavement was inexplicably wet in two nearby spots, one of which is right next to a utility chamber.
A neighbour told us the sidewalk near the hole and the road have been dug up twice in the past couple years to repair other leaks, pointing to a new section of sidewalk built after the last excavation.
Over the past week, city trucks and workers have shown up several times to look at the hole and take photos of it. But if it gets much bigger, it’ll be difficult for even one vehicle to squeeze past it, and no amount of caution tape will help. Status: We’ve asked Toronto Water when it intends to fix the leak and fill the hole. It should be any day now, unless they’re looking for trouble. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer or call us at 416-869-4823 email jlakey@thestar.ca. To read our blog, go to thestar.com/news/the_fixer. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.