Sinkhole Fears on Dickson Road in Riverview
Could Oxford area have another sinkhole? Christine Hillmann thinks yes.
Hillmann lives in Riverview, on the Dickson Road about halfway between Kolbec Road and Mount Pleasant Road. Last Wednesday she noticed cracks and a slight dent across the road near her home. By the next day, the road fell even more and she called the department of transportation (TIR).
Hillmann said there was no response so her husband called again that afternoon and had an exchange that we’ll call ‘a little warmer’. A TIR crew from Oxford arrived within an hour and placed a traffic cone on each side of the road to warn of the deepening depression.
The problem has been growing worse with each passing day, growing to about 4.5 meters wide. The arrival of a garbage truck for today’s collection has heightened concern. The garbage truck traversed the gap twice, coming and going, and its weight contributed to the crisis.
Hillmann says that after the garbage truck crossed the depression her car can no longer get through the collapsing area. She is very afraid of what might happen if somebody comes along at night. The traffic cones will not indicate the severe nature of the current danger. Hillmann says, “If they hit that at night, it will be nasty.”
The danger hits too close to home. She says, “If I call 9-1-1 and they come for me from Kolbec Road, they won’t get to me.”
Hillmann’s photos (below) show that water is washing away the area under the culverts. She can hear rushing water and says it has all the sights and sounds of a sinkhole. She added, “There is nothing under the culverts now. It is just like a sinkhole.”
Nobody from TIR has returned to the site since the traffic cones were placed at the roadside last Thursday. The deterioration continues and is now a very real crisis.
Photos by Christine Hillmann
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