Road crews returned to NE 81st Avenue and Everett Street this week to permanently repair a sinkhole within a crosswalk near Vestal School. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) patched the street cavity in early August but needed to return for a proper remediation. Workers removed a rectangular section of the asphalt, exposing the street’s gravel base. Workers will replace the road’s surface within the next several days after completing repairs.
Article first published August 6th, 2023.
A new sinkhole opened up in a crosswalk near Vestal School last week. Road crews quickly filled and patched the maintenance hole adjacent cavity at NE 81st Avenue and Everett Street. This under-roadway cavity is the second sinkhole to appear in a Montavilla street this year, with the other one causing a road closure of SE Yamhill Street at SE 76th Avenue.
Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) representatives noted that Portland sees a few hundred small sinkholes in the streets yearly. Most are relatively small and do not cause extensive property damage. This most recent sinkhole is small but could cause a twisted ankle due to its location in the middle of the crosswalk. PBOT repair crews recognized its potential to cause injury and responded quickly to the growing hole. A neighbor who witnessed the repair said that crews arrived the same day it was reported, wetting the base soil, filling the void, and patching the asphalt road surface.
PBOT quickly repaired the NE 81st Avenue sinkhole without disrupting traffic, but this section of the road may require additional attention in the future. In contrast, the limited availability of materials needed to repair the substantially larger sinkhole at SE Yamhill Street has delayed work for nearly three months. Expect crews to begin repair work in the coming weeks. Until then, SE Yamhill Street remains closed to vehicle and bus traffic from SE 76th Avenue to SE 74th.
Update: City staff repaired the Yamhill sinkhole reopening the street on August 16th, 2023.