© CBC NewsPolice closed Highway 148 in both directions after a 10-metre wide sinkhole opened Wednesday morning in the highway's eastbound lane.
On Wednesday morning a large sinkhole 10 metres deep and 10 metres wide formed on Highway 148's eastbound lanes, closing the highway in both directions between the communities of Quyon and Luskville, both of which are part of the municipality of Pontiac.
Pontiac Mayor Roger Larose said Wednesday he and his staff told the provincial government a month ago that the culvert was blocked.
He said workers did come to fix the problem, but said the culverts should have been monitored.
"They should have been aware of this before us. They aren't organized and I sure am not impressed," said Larose.
A spokesperson with Quebec's transportation ministry told CBC News recent heavy rains and the Canada Day storm may have contributed to the sinkhole's formation over the culvert.
The culvert is about a kilometre away from where a washout closed the highway for almost a month in 2011.
Motorists are being advised to use Highway 105 and Highway 366 as a northern detour, or if coming to Quebec through Ontario, take the ferry at Fitzroy Harbour.
The closure of the highway comes a day after some 20 homes were damaged near Quyon during Tuesday's violent storm.
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