COPLAY, Pa. – A street in Lehigh County will be closed for a fourth day after a massive sinkhole opened and forced two families from their homes.
The sinkhole opened on South Fourth Street in Coplay.
A structural engineer has been out on the scene assessing the damage as crews work to fix the road.
Longtime neighbors are speaking out, saying it’s not the first time a water main break on the street has caused a mess.
Concerns and questions remain for many about the safety of the street in the long run.
“It does worry me tremendously,” said Betsy Oleschak, a lifelong Coplay resident.
South Fourth Street was looking and sounding more like a construction zone on Wednesday. But Oleschak has called it home all her life.
“It’s scary, you know. You don’t know what you’re living on top of,” said Oleschak.
It started as a water main break on Sunday night. Crews responded around 5 p.m.
“We went out front and saw you know the water authority and all that, so we figured it was a water break again because we had one maybe I don’t know 8-10 months ago, same kind of problem,” said Oleschak.
But the break has since expanded into a massive sinkhole.
“I was trying to walk around, but one of the neighbors told me it’s about 20-30 feet deep. It’s just crazy,” said Oleschak.
Workers have been observing problems beneath the road surface, bringing in equipment and heavy stone to fill in the hole.
Progress is seemingly moving in the right direction, but it’s creating more of a noisy environment for neighbors, like Oleschak and her dog Zuko.
“There are a lot of dump trucks and things parked on the street, so it’s been bugging him,” Oleschak said.
Utilities are out at a twin home on the street, but officials said other homes still have safe water.
“[The water] goes off generally around 8 a.m. when they start, and then around 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., it’s been back on. You know, and then you have to run it because it comes out brown. We worry about our dishes [and] the dog’s water,” said Oleschak.
Two families have been forced from their homes.
“The folks whose homes they can’t go into, they have it all decorated, like that. Just kind of broke my heart too. They’re getting ready for the trick-or-treaters Friday night,” said Oleschak. “I feel bad. It’s just terrible. “
There is no word on when the work will be completed.
The Municipal Authority General Manager said crews are working as fast as they can to make sure the area is in safe condition for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Copyright 2026 Maranatha Broadcasting Co., Inc.. All Rights Reserved.