Section of Highway 165 damaged by sinkhole reopened

A section of Highway 165 near Stevinson that was closed due to a sinkhole was reopened to traffic on Tuesday. The sinkhole was reported around 4 a.m. Sunday on Highway 165 off Canal Street. When the sinkhole was reported, it was about 22-by-27 feet wide and 2 feet deep, according to Kwame Appauh, Caltrans transportation engineer. Officials had said earlier that the road could be closed through Friday, but the road was reopened around 6 p.m. Tuesday. California Department of Transportation officials said the repairs done this week to the road will be a temporary fix. The affected section will be permanently fixed after Nov. 1 as part of the ongoing $13.9 million Highway 140/Highway 165 Stevinson Rehabilitation Project. As part of that project, additional pavement repairs will be made to the roadway, the shoulders will be widened and utility poles will be relocated. The rehabilitation project began May 27 and covers Highway 165 from Highway 140 to just south of Westside Boulevard. The project will also correct the roadway slope, according to Angela Daprato, Caltrans spokeswoman. An irrigation waterway, which is directly under where the sinkhole appeared, is expected to be shut down sometime in October, allowing crews to replace the steel pipe with concrete piping and repair the road.

This story was originally published September 23, 2014 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Section of Highway 165 damaged by sinkhole reopened."