I-80 in both directions has been closed in Wharton, New Jersey Wednesday afternoon after a growing sinkhole is causing safety concerns.
A busy New Jersey highway was shut down in both directions after another sinkhole opened up Wednesday afternoon, a problem that has plagued the roadway in recent months.
It was not immediately clear when exactly the sinkhole developed, but it caused traffic to be backed up for miles along the highway running through Wharton, in Morris County, footage from Chopper 4 showed.
The crater appeared to open up immediately along one side of the road, in what appeared to be the median of the highway. A spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Transportation said the 15-foot by 15-foot hole opened during a drilling operation. All lanes were closed and detoured out of an abundance of caution, the DOT spokesperson said.
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The highway had been closed for repairs. On Monday, the New Jersey Department of Transportation announced that the eastbound lanes of the roadway were going to remain closed for at least another two months in order to complete repairs.
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SIGN UP According to findings from an initial New Jersey DOT study, a "significant" void sits underneath the eastbound lanes of I-80 near Exit 34.
"If I can assure folks, it’s that — it’s because we want to get the job done right and safely," Morris County Assemblywoman Aura Dunn said about the extended highway closure.
Dunn said part of the problem stemmed from the sheer number of voids that had been found under I-80. It was first thought there were about 90 voids, but crews have since found about twice as many, likely caused from old mines in the area.
"It’s been 24/7 with DOT crews working around the clock to fill these holes. I hate to use the analogy, and many have: We kind of have a system of Swiss cheese, and we gotta plug those holes," said Dunn.
As of Monday, six weeks of work had been completed, and the DOT had hoped to reopen one lane of eastbound traffic on the westbound side of the highway in order to offset growing traffic jams. But Wednesday's development likely put a pause on those crossover plans.
Emergency repairs will continue between Exit 34 and the bridge over Route 15 in Wharton. The right lane on I-80 westbound was set to be closed Wednesday night in order to remove rumble strips in the shoulder, but two lanes would have remained opened overnight. It was not clear whether the rumble strip removal that was scheduled was connected in any way to the new sinkhole opening.
It was not known when either side of the roadway would reopen. All traffic was being diverted to Route 15 north, according to Jefferson Township Mayor Eric Wilsusen.
A massive sinkhole the size of a four-story building appeared in the same area in December as a result of an abandoned mineshaft. It took four days to fix.
There are no immediate concerns about the stability of I-80 westbound.
