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.<\/p>\n
The sinkhole opened on South Fourth Street in Coplay.<\/p>\n
A structural engineer has been out on the scene assessing the damage as crews work to fix the road.<\/p>\n
Longtime neighbors are speaking out, saying it’s not the first time a water main break on the street has caused a mess.<\/p>\n
Concerns and questions remain for many about the safety of the street in the long run.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0“It does worry me tremendously,” said Betsy Oleschak, a lifelong Coplay resident.<\/p>\n
South Fourth Street was looking and sounding more like a construction zone on Wednesday. But Oleschak has called it home all her life.<\/p>\n
“It’s scary, you know. You don’t know what you’re living on top of,” said Oleschak.<\/p>\n
It started as a water main break on Sunday night. Crews responded around 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
But the break has since expanded into a massive sinkhole.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
Workers have been observing problems beneath the road surface, bringing in equipment and heavy stone to fill in the hole.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“There are a lot of dump trucks and things parked on the street, so it’s been bugging him,” Oleschak said.<\/p>\n
Utilities are out at a twin home on the street, but officials said other homes still have safe water.\u2002<\/p>\n
“[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.<\/p>\n
Two families have been forced from their homes.<\/p>\n
“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. “<\/p>\n
There is no word on when the work will be completed.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\nCopyright 2026 Maranatha Broadcasting Co., Inc.. All Rights Reserved.\n<\/p>\n
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