Lane of southbound Hammond Road closed in Raleigh
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A second round of pavement problems is happening on a busy Raleigh road. Police shut down a southbound lane of Hammond Road at Rush Street because of a large dip in the roadway.
Crews just finished fixing a sinkhole in that area a couple weeks ago and Thursday morning, workers yet again converged at the intersection to repair the roadway. The road bucked and both southbound lanes were barricaded at one point.
Workers tried to patch up the problem. They paved the road, but the hole just continued to sink. Metal plates were eventually brought in and are being used to stop any further damage.
"With all the crews that they have and the equipment, it should have been fixed the first time," said Raleigh resident John Chargualaf.
The DOT admits the sinkhole was never completely fixed the first time. The road gave way earlier this month when heavy rains soaked the area. A pipe broke 30 feet below the surface and the DOT did a quick fix to get traffic flowing again.
"We just wanted to get the road open," said DOT spokesperson Steve Abbott. "It was so deep when we dug down there 20-30 feet. We determined it was too dangerous to send a crew down to do pipe work that far below."
There's no exact timetable when the work on the big replacement project will take place.
The DOT right now is concentrating on the short-term repair to Hammond Road. Work on the temporary fix is expected to last until Friday morning because crews are waiting on some materials.
Southbound drivers can continue through the intersection using the left lane, and can turn right at Rush Street toward South Saunders Street, or left toward Garner Road.
Northbound Hammond Road lanes are both open.
