Omaha’s Pacific Street is expected to reopen on Thursday – just over a week after a massive sinkhole swallowed up two cars as they sat at a stoplight.
Omaha Mayor John Ewing and Assistant Public Works Director Austin Rowser gave the update during a Monday press conference. Ewing lauded the city’s public works department and the Metropolitan Utilities Department, or MUD, for their quick work.
“MUD crews were diligent in getting repairs done in a timely manner and coordinating with traffic and street maintenance,” Ewing said. “I am happy to say that the street will be open this coming Thursday – so extremely quick work, and quite honestly, the way I like to see government work, where we get things done quickly for the people of this great city.”
Rowser said the repairs were relatively straightforward. The road collapsed on Feb. 24, and MUD completed its repairs by Feb. 26. Paving crews could be seen laying concrete over the filled-in sinkhole on Monday afternoon.
It still isn’t clear exactly what led to the sinkhole. In order for a sinkhole to form, Rowser said, there must be water present and a pathway for the water to go to with “enough velocity to erode the soil away.”
“We live on a loess bluff above the Missouri river,” Rowser explained. “We have very erodible soils. I don’t mean to be too technical there, but basically all that means is it’s a highly erosive soil bed that we live on. So erosion is a constant problem that we deal with in all areas of public works.”
Rowser said the public works department will conduct a full investigation into what caused the sinkhole.