Things are going to get worse before they get better for anyone driving along the 400 Highway through Bradford over the next couple days.
At midday Tuesday, Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt provided an update video via X (formerly Twitter) showing traffic backed up along the southbound side of the highway as crews blocked off a portion of the left lane while they attempted to repair a sinkhole, which began causing problems Monday evening.
Schmidt warned those closures would soon expand to include the left lane of the northbound side of the highway as well, and could last for several days.
In the video, Schmidt shows a hole roughly the size of sandbag along the median on the southbound side of the highway.
Major problems #Hwy400 SB left lane blocked due to a sink hole. NB left will also be blocked shortly. Expect delays in both directions for several days while repairs are completed. @ONtransport pic.twitter.com/74WoX4sHvN
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) August 8, 2023
“It doesn't look like much from the surface ... but the hole goes down, they say, at least 11 feet. It looks deeper than that to me. It’s a massive cavity here right now,” he said.
Schmidt wasn’t sure the extent of the damage and said crews were still wondering exactly how far underground the sinkhole extends, noting that more crews were on their way to shutdown the northbound lanes this afternoon.
“Avoid the area. We have heavy, heavy traffic delays coming southbound and that will include northbound delays by this afternoon. Please take care, drive safe and avoid this area if you can,” he said.
When contacted by phone, Schmidt referred BradfordToday to his update video.
