Large sinkhole appears on Uptown Minneapolis street, city says it was caused by collapsed sewer main
MINNEAPOLIS – Just when you think the roads are starting to look better in Minneapolis, a giant sinkhole in Uptown is causing quite a stir.
A sinkhole appeared Sunday near the intersection of West 27th Street and Girard Avenue South, in the Lowry Hill East neighborhood.
City officials on Monday said it was caused by a collapsed sewer main. Crews widened the containment area to nearly the whole intersection.
RELATED: Minneapolis asks residents for more pothole patience
If potholes are a damaging nuisance, a sinkhole like this is just downright dangerous. The ditch now is about 7-feet deep, but we learned the issue is 18-feet deep.
It's not exactly the Grand Canyon, but apparently it's still Instagram worthy. Uptown resident Emily Burns says it's unlike anything she's ever seen.
"This is just a pothole times a thousand," Burns said.
According to city engineers, a ruptured sanitation sewer main caused the giant void in the pavement, which is only a stone's throw away from where crews were filling some dreaded potholes on Hennepin Avenue.
The repeated freezing and thawing this winter and early spring have wreaked havoc on what's underground, including the infrastructure that's held up for more than 100 years.
Potholes, of course, are easy to see and feel. But pipes, not so much. So crews are relying on remote control cameras that broadcast what's happening way underground to tip off crews to proactively fix something before a potential emergency response.
There are signs for drivers, according to Curtis Stallings, general foreman for the City of Minneapolis.
"Not a pothole, more of like when the ground is still pretty much connected and you see kind of like a slope where it just divots in," Stallings said. "That would be a possible sign of a potential collapsed pipe."
Public works crews are promising no disruption to sewer services in the neighborhood, but repair work will last until next week.
If you do see what you think could be an issue leading to a sinkhole, city crews encourage you to call 311 just as you would a pothole.
The sinkhole is about one block southeast of the Chipotle Mexican Grill location on Hennepin Avenue South, home to the parking lot that's been dubbed "Lake Chipotle." In both January of this year and the spring of 2022, the parking lot became an enormous puddle from snow melt -- and a social media sensation in the process.