Sinkhole in Houston
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Talk about a sinking feeling!

First it was flooding, now it's a giant sinkhole to reckon with in west Houston!

The traffic nightmare there, caused in part by massive flooding on W. Beltway 8 Tollway near I-10, may not go away anytime soon.

That's because there's one more wrinkle added to the mess: a sinkhole blocking the Beltway feeder road!

A giant crater has formed on the bridge above the tollway on Boheme Drive at Beltway 8.


So, this beltway, which became a water-way thanks to Harvey, has now become a belt-hole! But officials say the sinkhole will not stop the tollway from being re-opened.

"The Harris County Toll Road Authority is working on their toll road portion to get those main lanes opened back up," Karen Othon of TxDOT explained. "Two separate issues, we're both working at the same time."
Houston sinkhole
© CW39TV
At least now the Harris County Toll Road Authority is hard at work trying to repair the tollway after being under about 16 feet of water for over a week.

TxDOT crews are already sizing up the repair job on the sinkhole, too.

"We're estimating about a week for this work to take place before we can have this opened back up," Othon said.

Residents in the area aren't finding much comfort in any of this since many of their streets and homes are still flooded with water.

"Going in there is like a toxic waste dump," resident Janice Wasner shared.

Officials say once the beltway is thoroughly inspected and repaired, the tollway will finally re-open but remains closed "indefinitely."

From the looks of it, there's a sinking suspicion it won't re-open soon enough.