DECATUR, AL—
Spring break is a time when folks tend to let loose, often hitting the open road poised for whatever adventure comes down the pike. But traversing Interstate 65 this week has been anything but a party. Most drivers need a vacation from their sinkhole detour woes.Some motorists are just plain angry. Empress Wood made the trip from Atlanta to visit family in the River City. She's not impressed at all with the detour.
"It took me a while to get through", says Empress, "and this is just bizarre -- you all need to get it together down here."
Just down Highway 31 at the intersection of Highway 67, Ronnie Tyler, an employee at Railroad Bazaar, says traffic has been so heavy through the area that customers aren't even bothering to stop by.
"Fridays are usually really good for business", Tyler says. "But with all this traffic, our customers can't even get in!"
Ronnie also expressed his displeasure with vehicles that cut through the business' parking lot, trying to save just a couple of seconds.
"Nothing but trucks, nothing but traffic", he says. "It's kind of like that Stephen King movie 'Maximum Overdrive', just truck, after truck, after truck."
"Fix the sinkhole please!" Tyler pleaded. And that's exactly what crews worked all night Friday to accomplish. They have to dig enough to find the source of the limestone cavity causing the sinkhole. Until they find the source, they won't know how to plug the hole.
So as the investigating and excavating continues, the now chasm of a sinkhole grows deeper and wider. But with every scoop of dirt, crews are getting closer to solving the riddle of the Interstate 65 sinkhole.
Though it might not be any consolation to folks making their way back from spring break bliss on Saturday, Johnny Harris with the Alabama Department of Transportation says, "Progress is definitely being made."
