By 1news.co.nz
A new sinkhole has closed part of a busy road in Auckland, causing more transport woes.
Auckland Transport (AT) said a sinkhole on Princes Street in Ōtāhuhu has closed the eastbound lane.
“Due to a sinkhole on Princes Street, the eastbound lane has been closed between Great South Rd & Atkinson Ave (westbound lane remains open),” AT said on social media.
Bus routes were also affected.
“Bus route 321, 323, 333X outbound services & 670 inbound services will be detoured until further notice.”
Police told 1News it was alerted to the sinkhole around 7.42am and went to the scene, also letting Auckland Council know about the issue.
It comes just over a week after a sinkhole opened up on a busy Auckland CBD road, impacting traffic and businesses.
The College Hill Road sinkhole appeared near Auckland’s police headquarters.
Sinkhole forms on road outside Auckland CBD police headquarters
Cafe 28 owner Himanshu told RNZ the road closure had a significant impact on his business.
“I haven’t seen any customers [because] I am totally lost, 80% loss of the business.”
He said as well as foot traffic, food deliveries have been cancelled.
”It’s very hard. All of the deliveries come, but they’ve cancelled all the deliveries – just because of that, nobody is coming here to pick up the deliveries.”
Auckland Council said a stormwater pipe that was due for renewal in August developed further damage, causing the soil and road above to sink into the ground.
In a statement Auckland Council’s head of operations for healthy waters Andrew Skelton, said: “Temporary work is underway to secure the damage and protect the road, and this is due to be completed by the end of the week.”
“As Healthy Waters already had plans and a design in place to complete this pipe renewal, this work will begin immediately following the temporary fix to the pipe and road.”
“We thank those travelling in this area for their patience and understanding during this period of disruption,” Skelton said.
