Sink hole closes eastbound lane of Highway 68

UPDATE 3/9/17 6:30 PM: Aftermath of the storms continuing to cause problems for drivers on Highway 68, as a sink hole prompted crews to bring the busy route down to one lane this afternoon.

Though it’s back open now, the job of fixing it is still not finished.

Caltrans crews were scheduled to do some work on Highway 68 early Thursday morning. While replacing a temporary culvert they made a discovery that added close to 5 hours to the job.

Caltrans says recent storms have caused more damage than they’ve seen in years.

“A long time ago over 10 years!” said Bertha Ramon, Caltrans resident engineer.

That’s how long it’s been since Bertha Roman with Caltrans has seen storm-caused damage like what they’ve faced over the past few weeks.

Routine work that should have ended at 6 AM lasted through Thursday afternoon.

Crews planned to replace a temporary Culvert with a permanent one, on the way to doing that, they ran into a problem.

“The water [found] a way through to underneath where the temporary pipe was.” Ramon said.

The extra water was more than the culvert was built to handle.

“We designed the capacity of the culvert for a certain amount of [floodwater] but this was totally over-flooded.

Caltrans says the estimated cost of the emergency repair was about 150 to 160 thousand dollars and an extra thirty minutes on average to drivers commute.

A situation many on the road were not prepared for.

“There’s a lot of cars, a lot of people and you can see the frustration” said Lupe who was delayed on the highway. “People are tailgating or they get too close to you and they’re honking.”

Work on the eastbound lane on Highway 68 has been done but all is not finished. The westbound lane still has work to be done that’s going to take place Sunday.

While road work can be a pain for drivers, Bertha Roman says crews are working to fix the highway quickly and safely.

“We are lucky, we are fortunate that we don’t have any more problems like this, this is really an exception.”

The work done on the west side of the road will pick back up Sunday at 7PM through Monday at 6AM.

UPDATE 3/9/17 11:38 a.m.: The eastbound side of Highway 68 is expected to reopen within the next hour, according to Caltrans.

Crews said the sink hole was about 10 inches wide and happened underneath a culvert that is currently being repaired because of weather-related damage.

PREVIOUS STORY: A sinkhole has developed on Highway 68, forcing the closure of the eastbound lane. Caltrans reported the closure at around 7:35 Thursday morning.

The sinkhole is located where crews were already working to replace a culvert between Quail Ridge Lane and Corral de Tierra.

Caltrans says traffic controls are in place, and drivers can expect delays for “some time” between Salinas and Monterey.