Sinkhole forces road closure in Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT – Streets in the vicinity of Stetson and Suffolk avenues were shut down Wednesday afternoon due to a large sinkhole.Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta said police shut down the street immediately and were urging residents to avoid the area.”You could fit a large dump truck in there,” Cresta said, adding that it was expected to be fixed by Wednesday evening.Cresta said a 20-inch storm drain in the vicinity of 30 Stetson Ave. was compromised.”It had a break in it and gravel and stuff ran into it,” Cresta said. “It gave way and we have a huge sinkhole. We know where the break is. We have the trench secured.”Cresta said most storm drains are 18 or 24 inches so this particular pipe is somewhat of an anomaly.”It’s an odd size pipe,” he said. “So we didn’t have the parts in stock so we had to go get parts but it’s secured. We removed the hot top so we don’t have to worry about it caving in.”Cresta said police noticed the sink hole when it first started to open up and immediately blocked off the area.”Fortunately there weren’t any accidents,” he said.