Large sinkhole closes road near Kensington

A sinkhole about six metres deep has closed a road near Kensington, P.E.I.

Francis Kelly of the P.E.I. Department of Transportation said it developed Saturday afternoon on Hwy 101, the Irishtown Road.

"Lucky nobody got into it. It wouldn't have been good," he said.

Kelly said a transportation worker went to check on another area of the road where water had been pooling and came across the sinkhole. He said a culvert runs underneath where the hole developed, and it was likely forming for quite awhile.

He said it's fortunate it happened during daylight hours when it was easier for drivers to see.

"Lucky he come along when he did because it dropped and there's a 20-foot hole there," he said. "Nobody got hurt and that's the main thing."

Kelly said detours have been set up, and crews will workto repair the hole as soon as possible.

Brendon Campbell, who lives nearby, hopes the road can be fixed quickly. He said the detour adds about 20 minutes to the drive for people in the area.

"It shuts everybody off," he said. "A farmer down the road, everybody's got to go around now to haul the milk out so he's got a long wait for the truck to come."

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