The sinkholes plaguing a section of I-80 in New Jersey are now raising concerns at a nearby apartment complex, where tenants have seen cracks and fractures forming.
Between construction to remediate the sinkholes closing down a swath of highway about 100 feet north of the building, and the fact that abandoned mineshafts riddle the ground underneath both, have made residents of the Avalon Wharton apartment complex jittery despite officials’ assurances that the building is safe, The Bergen Record reported.
“A majority of these cracks were not here until the second sinkhole actually formed,” tenant Alexandra Lawler told The Bergen Record. “Once the second sinkhole happened, everything got way worse. There were more cracks showing, and definitely larger cracks, and now they’re just getting worse as time goes on.”
The highway has been closed in both directions since last week, when yet another sinkhole opened up during repairs to close the one already shutting down the eastbound lanes. The first sinkhole opened and was repaired in December. Then on Feb. 10, in the same spot in Wharton, N.J., State Department of Transportation officials closed the eastbound lanes of the highway after flagging a depression with sinkhole potential. The repair timeline was extended three more weeks, then again on March 20, when a 15-by-15-foot hole in the highway median closed down both directions. On Friday NJDOT said repairs would keep the westbound lanes closed for five weeks and the eastbound lanes for seven.
Avalon residents have been documenting cracks appearing around doorways, at the entrance to elevators, and along staircases, with visible gaps between the walls and the floor, Lawler told The Bergen Record. Several inspections have been conducted and found the building safe, the cracks part of normal wear and tear. But that’s not assuaging tenants’ concerns.
“There’s new cracks showing up every day, and you can’t just call all of this a coincidence,” Wharton resident Liam Gavin told CBS News.
