PROVO, Utah (ABC4) — A major sinkhole has appeared in Provo on Sunday afternoon, according to Provo Police.
The sinkhole formed near 1333 North 1450 East, police said, and road closures were reportedly in place while crews responded to the situation.
Provo Public Works immediately mobilized to address the situation, working tirelessly throughout the afternoon and evening to make the necessary repairs. The sinkhole was repaired by Sunday night.
Shane McClellan, a resident whose vehicle suffered damage from the sinkhole, recounted the sudden shock of encountering the collapsed road.
“Picking my wife up from the airport and going to church, we’re just driving up the street. We just live a few houses down,” McClellan said. “And, yeah, it looks like a normal road. And all of a sudden it just bam, you know, sort of a surprise.”
Fortunately, McClellan’s experience could have been worse.
“Thank goodness the other side was on solid ground. You know, both front tires had gone into the sinkhole, then it’d have been the sinkhole,” he added, highlighting the potential danger posed by the incident.
Gordon Haight, Provo’s Interim Public Works Director, expressed relief that there were no reported injuries resulting from the sinkhole.
“Glad that nobody got hurt. So, there’s no injuries at this point,” Haight said. “Everybody seems to be doing well and hopefully we’ll get this done. Pretty quick.”
The damage to McClellan’s vehicle was extensive, and his car had to be towed away from the scene. The left side of his convertible Mustang took the brunt of the damage as the road collapsed. Both rims and tires on the driver’s side were blown out.
Efforts to rectify the situation were underway as crews worked to repair the ruptured water main and assess the compromised road.
“They have the spare pipe ready to go once they get down to the leak. And once they do that, they’ll start bringing in the fill to build the road back up,” Haight explained.
Despite the swift response, the repair process was estimated to take around five hours before the affected section could be reopened.
Haight outlined the steps involved, stating, “Repairing the pipe and building the road up so it’s passable, we’ll come back in later and do a really good saw cut and we’ll patch up the road properly later this week.”
Nearby residents were asked to prepare for possible water shut-offs and to check their property for any potential issues. The roads were reopened by Sunday night.
