DOT to repair sinkhole

 

 

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities employees are out working on a pothole and underlying sinkhole that formed on the Kenai Spur Highway Tuesday night.

“Basically last night a motorist noticed it, and it’s about 2-3 feet across at about mile 12 of the Kenai Spur,” said Shannon McCarthy, public information officer for DOT’s central region.

Lt. Dave Ross with the Kenai Police Department said several calls began coming in at about 5:49 p.m. Tuesday. Kenai Police responded to the area and helped direct traffic away from the hole while DOT took a look, he said.

It is common for potholes to form in the wake of freeze-thaw conditions, and McCarthy said pothole formation has been pretty active in the state’s central region this winter.

“We don’t always know where the potholes are forming,” she said.

The hole on the Kenai Spur Highway formed near a manhole, so members of the department went down it to search for any potential causes for the sinkhole, McCarthy said. So far, nothing is obvious as to a reason for its formation, she said, though since the road is near an old embankment and is about 30 years old, it could have been an issue with organic material in the road that deteriorated over time.

Department employees will dig up the “bad material,” or the broken pavement, and replace it with packed gravel, patching the hole, McCarthy said.

If the sinkhole underneath is a minor problem, which McCarthy said it looks to be as of Wednesday morning, it should be a relatively quick fix.

The road was already scheduled to be repaved this summer.

McCarthy said it is important for motorists to drive slow over the sinkhole, and to always report potholes to DOT at 262-2199 and to law enforcement.

 

Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building is seen in Juneau, Alaska, in March 2022. The deadline for the permanent fund dividend is coming up fast, landing on March 31, 2023. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
PFD application deadline is next week; state revenue forecasts lower than expected

Alaska North Slope crude oil was estimated to be about $71.62 per barrel on Monday

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
COVID-19: Cases jump in Kenai Peninsula Borough

No hospitalizations were reported in the Gulf Coast region

The Challenger Learning Center is seen in Kenai, Alaska, on Sept. 10, 2020. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Transportation gaps to be the focus of community meeting

The goal is to create a task force who can regularly meet and move forward on the issue

Bob Schroeder takes an electric chainsaw to a mock credit card during a protest outside the Wells Fargo in downtown Juneau at midday Tuesday. Schroeder cut up three mock credit cards representing three banks in Juneau protesters say are leading funders of fossil fuel development projects. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Protesters object to banks financing fossil fuel projects

Demonstrators used chain saw to cut up giant credit cards

The members of Sankofa Dance Theater Alaska perform for a crowd of students during an opening performance at Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science in Kenai, Alaska on Monday, March 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Uniting through movement

Kaleidoscope students learn about western African dances and music with in-residence artists

A blizzard warning is issued for the Eastern Kenai Peninsula and beyond by the National Weather Service on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (Screenshot)
Blizzard warning issued for Seward, Turnagain Pass

Snow accumulation is predicted to be from 7 to 20 inches

The Homer Spit and the Kenai Mountains are photographed of Monday, May 17, 2021, as seen from West Hill in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Magnitude 5.4 earthquake strikes west of Homer

The earthquake occurred just after 7 a.m.

Homer Police Lt. Ryan Browning provides ‘youth and technology’ presentation Saturday Feb. 4 at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Christopher Kincaid.
Social media harms targeted in community meetings

Homer police visiting Central Peninsula to open dialogue about “Parenting in the Digital Age”

The intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling highways is seen on Saturday, May 7, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
Borough to use federal funds for street safety

The funds were made available through the Safe Streets and Roads for All program

Most Read