NEW ORLEANS — A sinkhole that could swallow you whole is waiting for an unsuspecting person to fall in, and the hole is right by a bridge that the city spent money fixing a few years ago.
City Councilman JP Morrell is calling on the city to take action and fix it before someone gets hurt.
The councilman said, "And then I came out here, and it's pretty disturbing."
Covered by weeds and off to the side is a sinkhole.
Morrell said, "It's more than a separation. It's a hole. About the size of a person." He went on to say, "If I had to guess it was probably a sinkhole caused by the sidewalk settling different from the bridge as well as some erosion from the water and rain."
Councilman JP Morell says the hole by the Filmore Bridge over Bayou St John, is simply dangerous. He said, "If you're biking, walking or running and you're not paying attention, you're broken. It's not like you trip. If you're biking your whole wheel goes in, if you're walking your legs go in."
According to the city, the Filmore Bridge was rebuilt in 2018, and it cost close to a million dollars. After pouring that money into this rebuild, JP Morrel is now asking is why it appears that money is sinking away, straight down this sinkhole.
"It's always frustrating when you have sunk a million dollars into a bridge, and no, you have to go back behind it and do repairs."
The councilman believes the bridge itself is structurally sound. He says it's the sidewalk that has deteriorated. He says he's working on both short—and long-term repair options.
WWL Louisiana reached out to the Department of Public Works, which is responsible for fixing the hole.
We are still waiting to hear back.
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