Construction underway to make temporary repairs to Hillside sinkhole
IEW construction crews have been working to repair the sinkhole on Ramsey Avenue under the I-78 overpass since Monday.
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Construction is now underway at a sinkhole in Hillside following months of questions about how the township will fix it.
IEW construction crews have been working to repair the sinkhole on Ramsey Avenue under the I-78 overpass since Monday.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation says they’ve agreed to make temporary repairs.
In a statement, they told News 12, “NJDOT has agreed to assist the community, both financially and operationally, to make a temporary repair by filling the sinkhole this week, though it will continue to be off limits to vehicular traffic, pedestrians, and bicyclists.”
Ramsey Avenue has been blocked off since April, causing problems for businesses.
“It’s a huge setback, this is going to put me out of business, it’s a very very dire situation,” said Sri Mudambi. who owns a trucking business.
RELATED: Floodwater builds up in sinkhole on Ramsey Avenue in Hillside
RELATED: Expanding sinkhole below I-78 overpass in Hillside disrupting local businesses
He says he spent upwards of $200,000 to relocate. He told News 12, “It's just a big mess, I had to move my business to another location so I gotta pay rent over there and I'm still liable to pay my landlord whatever I owe him since April.”
He says not only did he get no financial assistance, but he hadn’t heard from anyone from the city until last week when News 12 showed up for an interview with Councilwoman Andrea Hyatt, who has been mentioning the issue at council meetings.
Mudambi explained to her what his business had been through and how much he spent relocating. Hyatt said she had been talking to NJDOT about what they could do to help.
Hyatt told News 12, “From the moment we saw the sinkhole, my concern was how close it is to route 78 as well as the wellbeing of the people in this community. So, I think we need to do something about it more immediately than has been expressed.”
NJDOT didn’t go into depth about how they’ll help the community financially. But this is only a temporary fix, it's still up to the township to get this fixed permanently.
