Community Corner

Sinkhole Closes California Oaks Road

This post was originally published at 2:25 p.m. May 21.

A large sinkhole on California Oaks Road will cause traffic delays throughout much of the week, according to Murrieta police and water district officials.

The 4-foot-deep, 20-foot-wide sinkhole was discovered at about 3:27 a.m. Tuesday, Murrieta police Sgt. Jim Gruwell stated in a news release.

The hydraulic pressure from a water-main break created the sinkhole, damaging much of the westbound side of California Oaks between Jackson and Monroe avenues.

"Murrieta Police and Murrieta Fire Department initially responded to the scene and discovered a large sinkhole in the westbound lanes of California Oaks Road just west of Jackson Avenue," Gruwell stated.

Repairing the sinkhole is expected to take a few days, according to Rancho California Water District.

As such, motorists should expect delays and were advised to use alternate routes if possible.

Westbound traffic was completely blocked between Jackson and Monroe until about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, when one westbound lane was set up on the eastbound side of California Oaks, according to Meggan Valencia, spokeswoman for Rancho California Water District.

"We are going to open up the far (westbound) lane later tonight but crews will have additional work to do. So there will be traffic delays for the next few days, but we are going to keep at least one lane open," Valencia told Patch.

Motorists were not the only people affected.

Valencia said businesses in the Target shopping center on California Oaks as well as an apartment complex on Monroe Avenue were without water for much of the day. She expected water service to be restored by about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Also, some customers who may have experienced "brown water" should expect it to return to normal shortly, Valencia said. Brown water occurs when sediment gets stirred up in instances such as water-main breaks, she explained.

Crews were working to flush lines, according to Valencia, which would solve that problem.


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