Giant sinkhole closes part of Southland Drive after car falls in

A section of Southland Drive in southwest Calgary was closed after a huge sinkhole opened up along the busy roadway between 14th Street and Elbow Drive S.W. in the westbound lanes.

The crater, roughly three metres in diameter, opened up early Wednesday morning when a vehicle broke through the asphalt and fell into the hole, says Lee Dupras, who is in charge of repair and maintenance for drinking water distribution at Calgary Water Services.

Crews were working to repair thebroken water main that caused the sinkhole.

Police asked motorists to find alternative routes.

Dupras says that in most cases there are warning signs that a roadway is in danger of giving way before a sinkhole forms but not in this case.

"In this instance, there was no indication that there was any issue with the roadway at all. Therefore we didn't close the road down because we didn't see it as a potential safety concern," he said.