Sinkhole swallows busy Springville Road

SPRINGVILLE, N.Y. (WIVB) - A growing sinkhole is swallowing a Springville road. So what's being done about it?

On Tuesday, Erie County crews were digging deep to get at the root of the problem. We've received several complaints about it, and so has the village of Springville.

It's another partial road closure in the village of Springville. This time a hole opened on Waverly Street near West Main Street.

Karl Lux, Superintendent of the Springville Public Works, said, "The depression started, then all of sudden the blacktop went in the hole, and then there was a fairly good size hole."

It appears the problem involves an old storm sewer pipe.

"The bottoms are going, they're rusting out, so they're caving in," said Lux.

The road is maintained by Erie County, but it appears the pipe is the state's responsibility.

Lux said, "It's pretty cut and dry that it's the state's pipe, so they're going to have to do some work in here to get that fixed."

Last month, village officials sent the county a letter stating that the hole, left without a safety barrel, poses a grave concern since the intersection is one of the busiest in the village.

John Brayman said, "It gets deeper and deeper."

Brayman lives nearby, and says he's seen the impact on traffic.

"Oh yeah, several times [cars have gone in the hole]. I've seen at least three or four do it," said Brayman.

Not far from there, Steve Aldinger showed us a hole in the parking lot of Nova Glass.

Aldinger said, "We're concerned about it getting any worse. They think it is related. They said the pipe comes right up from the Main sink hole and comes up though this way."

Tight now the biggest concern is the hole on Waverly Street. For now, county crews back filled it so they could re-open the road.

Stan Maracle said, "That's a big safety hazard for everybody. It's just that a tire is going to pop off, come careening over here. Who knows what could happen."

Erie County DPW Commissioner Jerry Sentz says the county and the state will need to sit down and figure out a solution. In the meantime, he says, a temporary fix is one option on the table.