© Jessica J. Trevino/Detroit Free Press
An excavator and workers are seen working on a sinkhole on the west side of Detroit on Tireman at Greenfield on Wednesday, March 3, 2016.
Detroit Police tell motorists to stay clear of giant opening on Tireman.
Detroit Police are advising motorists to stay clear of the eastbound lanes of Tireman on the city's west side because of a giant sinkhole.
The police department retweeted a photo from Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK) showing several officers standing near the sinkhole at the intersection with Greenfield. The officers appear to be dwarfed by the size of the opening in the pavement.
Bryan Peckinpaugh, spokesman for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, said a sewer pipe failed underneath the street, which apparently caused the sinkhole.
Officials do not know what caused the sewer pipe to fail.
"We have a team en route that will place a camera down into the sewer line to identify the cause of the break in the sewer pipe. After they make that determination, we will have an estimated repair time," Peckinpaugh said in an e-mail. "No businesses and no homes are impacted. Only the street. We have no reports of sewer backups in that area."
Peckinpaugh was not sure what time the sinkhole opened up, but officials learned of it shortly after 1 p.m.
The weather this year has been relatively mild, but two winters ago when the term "polar vortex" entered the public consciousness, the department handled more than 2,000 water main breaks.
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