CHULA VISTA (KGTV) — A massive sinkhole that opened up on a busy road in Chula Vista late Sunday night is being described by at least one local resident as a scene from a movie.
"I've never seeing anything like it," said Peggy Konkol. "It looks like something you'd see after a big earthquake."
Crews with the Otay Water District are investigating a ruptured water pipe and sinkhole that happened Sunday around 10 p.m. near the intersection of Telegraph Canyon Road and Paseo Ladera, east of Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center.
Konkol said she noticed trouble with the water pressure in her home Sunday night. Konkol and her husband searched their home for a water main break when they discovered a deep crack in the road on Paseo Ladera behind her home.
"We called the water company and within minutes there were sirens and crews working on Telegraph Canyon Road," said Konkol.
According to an Otay Water District official, a 16-inch potable water pipe buried four to five feet beneath the surface broke resulting in a massive sinkhole.
Konkol says the hole is "about 6- to 10-feet deep" and several hundred feet long.
The cause of the rupture and collapsed road is under investigation, said Tenille Otero, Communications Officer with the Otay Water District.
Water service to residential and commercial customers has not been interrupted, according to Otero. No boil-water advisory has been issued.
"We received some calls from the public about low water pressure. This can be confused with no water, but the pressure was low because the break was a big break," said Otero.
Paseo Ladera's southbound lanes have been temporarily shutdown until the end of the day, but the two northbound lanes and sidewalks are expected to be shutdown for a while as crews work to replace 500 feet of pipe.
"It's a good idea to shut down the area, the sinkhole is only about two feet from the sidewalk," said Konkol.
Crews will also need to replace at least 800 yards of asphalt, the length of roughly two and a half football fields.
It is unknown how long crews will be performing repairs.
"It's too early to know the extent of the damage, but a main break will take longer to repair," said Otero.
Motorists are being diverted to Heritage Road requiring some residents to travel an additional three miles to get home.
