A sinkhole that developed last week on Cecile Drive in Port Moody has been repaired but it has left residents in the area concerned about the ongoing work on the Evergreen Line.
The depression occurred above the area where the tunnel boring machine is located and awaiting routine maintenance. When crews were preparing the tunnel boring chamber for inspection, some ground material fell through, creating a sinkhole in the road measuring about two metres by three metres.
A resident of the Cecile Heights complex said the location of the sinkhole in the middle of the street means people can't access parking there.
"A lot of people depend on street parking so it's impacted a lot of people," she said. And although the hole has been repaired, the woman, who asked that her name not be used, was worried because it's the second one that has opened up in the area.
In October, a hole developed in the Chateau Place parking lot as Evergreen Line crews were changing the cutter head tools on the tunnel boring machine. And air pocket developed as material came into the cutter chamber and, although crews filled part of the air pocket from within the tunnel, part of it made its way to the surface.
In both cases, the sinkholes formed in areas that were already fenced off and the public was not at risk, according to the Ministry of Transportation.
One lane of Cecile Drive will remain closed with single-lane alternating traffic 24 hours a day until the work site is dismantled.
