sinkhole
More crews are working to repair two major sinkholes Friday that opened up near a busy Gwinnett County shopping center.

Rain slowed Thursday. Venture Drive is currently blocked as crews work to repair a pair of 20-to-30-foot sinkholes along the road.

Channel 2's Berndt Petersen was at the scene as trucks carrying heavy equipment arrived to start repairs, but by Thursday afternoon, none of the major repair work had begun.


Venture Drive is a major connector between Pleasant Hill Road and Steve Reynolds Boulevard. Locals say closing a cut-through like this could throw traffic into a tailspin.

Frustrated drivers complained about backed up traffic and a lack of alternate routes.

"If this is the only way you know, how do you know where to go?" a driver told Petersen.



"It can be a mess. We had to park where all these cars are making a U-turn and go back out and all the way around, a mile-and-a-half out of your way," local resident James Dozier told Petersen.

The ground caved in Thursday morning in a parking lot just a few paces from the street where Lanier Creek runs underneath. A spokesman told Petersen the pits are on private property and that the pipes failed, causing some sort of washout under the asphalt.

So far, crews haven't given a timetable on when they will be able to fill in the holes and reopen the road.

sinkhole