Second SF Sinkhole In 36 Hours Opens Up At Polk And Post

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Commuters in cars and on bicycles had to avoid a second sinkhole a San Francisco street Thursday morning.

The depression in the road, around a foot and a half across, was reported around 9 a.m. on Polk Street at Post Street, according to San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokesman Charles Sheehan.

The hole caused some delays for morning commuters as a Department of Parking and Traffic worker was assigned to help keep vehicles from coming too close to it.

The sinkhole also made a hazard for some cyclists participating in Bike To Work Day.

Sheehan said the hole developed in an area with an old, out-of-service pipeline that had caused some sand and dirt to shift.

The hole is not causing any major traffic issues and Sheehan said he expected it to be repaired by the end of the day.

The latest sinkhole appeared only 36 hours after another much larger sinkhole opened up on Mission Street at New Montgomery Tuesday evening.

An Uber SUV almost drove into the hole when it appeared in the middle of the street at about 5:30 p.m. San Francisco Police Department were able help get the occupants out safely.

The car was later removed from the 12-foot by 5-foot section of the collapsed street. Crews from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission have been working to repair the sinkhole since Wednesday morning.

The hole is roughly nine feet deep, and a broken sewer main was found at the bottom. Repairs on the Mission Street sinkhole were expected to take until at least Thursday evening.

The cause of the sewer break is not yet known, but age is likely a factor, according to the SFPUC. That segment of the sewer line is made of brick and dates back to 1875.

There was no word Thursday afternoon about the cause of the new sinkhole at Polk and Post or when it would be repaired.

In:
• Sinkhole
• San Francisco