Sinkhole Closes Road, Snaps Main

El Nino added insult to injury this week along a stretch of West Hillcrest Drive after a sinkhole snapped a water main and cut off water service and customer access to nearby businesses.

“I had to drive to Sears in the Janss Marketplace Tuesday to use the bathroom,” said Charlotte Aubert, a new-accounts representative at California Oaks State Bank on West Hillcrest Drive. “Talk about an inconvenience.”

City crews also found a corroding section of 30-inch corrugated-metal storm drain in the 10-foot-deep sinkhole that must be replaced.

West Hillcrest Drive between Moorpark Road and Conejo Boulevard is shut down until at least Sunday so crews can replace about 85 feet of the metal drain with concrete piping, said Sharon Evanson, safety officer for JFJ Construction of Camarillo, which is doing the work.

Crews have dug out a 10-by-40-foot pit for the new pipes. They are working around the clock in 12-hour shifts to complete the job, Evanson said.

Damage is estimated at more than $100,000, according to Thousand Oaks Public Works Director Don Nelson.

Seepage from the corroded storm drain is not believed to have caused the sinkhole, said David Pimentel, a city construction inspection supervisor. He said surface water likely undermined the soil around the drain and nearby water main.

The sinkhole was first noticed by city workers about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the intersection with Moorpark Road. That intersection was under a foot of water Monday during torrential rains, according to employees at nearby businesses.

After the water main was repaired Tuesday afternoon by California-American Water Co., which operates the line, city crews found the corroded drain. Traffic has been diverted past the work site since early Tuesday.

“It’s going a little slow because we’re being careful around some gas lines down there,” Evanson said.

The repaired water main, two small gas lines and a 15-inch sewer main remained exposed Wednesday as crews poured gravel into the deep pit to provide a foundation for the new concrete pipes.

Evanson said inspectors determined that there is no damage to the gas or sewer lines. Electrical lines beneath the intersection also were undamaged, Pimentel said.

Bank patrons have been diverted to an entrance along Conejo Boulevard, but one furniture and fabric store near the sinkhole has been virtually cut off from potential shoppers.

“Nobody can get here,” said Nancy Lee of Encino, store manager at Jennifer Leather and Convertibles along West Hillcrest Drive. “This frightens off a lot of women. Women just don’t do detours.”

Lee and co-worker Cholique Escobar of Chatsworth sat on tony leather couches in their store Wednesday, hoping for sales.

“I think El Nino is eventually going to be good for us because everyone’s couch has washed down the street,” Escobar said.