A two-week detour for commuters in the Forest Grove area of Burnaby is coming to an end.
City officials are planning to have Production Way completely open to traffic by Monday, Nov. 30.
James Lota, an assistant engineering director with the City of Burnaby, said crews are just finishing up repairs to the road between Broadway and East Lake Drive.
“If all goes well and the weather keeps cooperating, it should be done by early next week,” he said.
City crews were called to the section of road on Nov. 13 after a large sinkhole appeared in several spots.
One three-foot-deep hole swallowed the back wheels of an articulated bus along the stretch of road. The road was shut down as a safety precaution.
An investigation determined that heavy rains that day “overwhelmed” the drainage system leading to the sinkhole.
The city also suggested the situation could be related to the windstorm from August, which blew debris into creek beds and now the rains are washing that debris into culverts.
The city was forced to replace the storm sewer pipe that runs the entire width of the road.
As for the repairs, Lota suggested the work is standard for a storm sewer repair but noted there have been challenges due to the depth of the sewer pipe.
He explained crews have had to dig below the actual sinkhole to get to the sewer pipe.
Transit routes have also been altered. The 145 route is detoured from the Production Way station over to Lougheed Highway and Gaglardi Way and continue to SFU, while the 136 is detoured from Broadway to Gaglardi, Lougheed and then back on to Production Way avoiding the sinkhole area.
