Massive hole on Kenmount Road closes portion of busy street

Traffic was disrupted on Kenmount Road in St. John's Thursday morning, due to a massive hole that developed overnight Wednesday.

Water was gushing into the gaping hole in the eastbound curb lane, in front of the Capital Hyundai dealership. 

The screen on a culvert that runs under Kenmount Road became clogged by debris, and resulted in flooding. 

The lane has been closed to traffic until further notice. 

Crews from the City of St. John's attended the scene, a day after heavy rain and wind pounded parts of the island.

Rain and melting snow have swollen rivers, created potholes and eroded some shoulders. 

Washouts elsewhere

According to a spokesperson from the city, the hole is expected to be fixed by Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, some eyebrows were raised after video of the city crews cleaning up the situation showed them in potentially dangerous positions while attempting to clear the culvert screen.

"Our safety advisors are looking into it and they will be doing an investigation," said deputy city manager of public works Lynnann Winsor.

"You make the best decisions you can at the time and me not being there, I'm not sure what situation those guys faced."

City crews were dealing with other washouts Thursday in the Goulds area and in the west end of the city.