STELLARTON – For the second time in less than a year, Stellarton is dealing with a sinkhole in the town.
The good news is, the sinkhole that formed on Foster Avenue, between the intersection of Kirk Avenue and Pleasant Street, likely isn’t as serious as the one that formed on Foord Street last year, says Mayor Joe Gennoe.
“It’s not very big, but it has to be repaired, that’s for sure,” Gennoe said.
The two sinkholes aren’t believed to be related, either, he said, and the town is confident the Foster Avenue sinkhole won’t be as expensive to repair as the sinkhole on Foord Street, which carries a $1 million repair bill.
But exactly what caused a portion of Foster Avenue to collapse late in the evening on Thursday still remains a mystery, he admitted.
“The engineer hasn’t reported back yet,” Gennoe said Saturday. “We have the area secured until the engineer decides what it is.”
Barricades have been erected on either side of the sinkhole and it is surrounded by orange pylons. The hole doesn’t seem that large from a distance. On the surface, the hole, appearing less than a metre in diameter, is visible, but peering inside, it’s much larger.
Pictou Centre MLA Ross Landry heard about the hole while visiting area constituents and stopped by on Saturday to check out the situation. Looking into the hole, he said, “It’s certainly big enough to swallow the both of us,” and expressed concerns about the cause.
“I certainly hope it’s not related to the other one,” he added, saying that the province is close to an agreement with the town in order to conduct permanent repairs on the Foord Street sinkhole, which will involve replacing a collapsed culvert owned by the province.
Stellarton police issued a warning over he weekend, urging people to find alternate routes until a thoroughfare has opened and cautioned people to stay away from the area until repairs are complete.
