Portion of Route 202 near King of Prussia Mall closes indefinitely after sinkhole reopens
Traffic will be detoured until engineers can develop a plan for a second round of sinkhole repair.
The sinkhole that closed parts of Route 202 near the King of Prussia Mall last week has reopened, shutting down a portion of the roadway indefinitely.
The closures again impact East DeKalb Pike between Henderson Road and Saulin Boulevard in Upper Merion Township, and were triggered by a series of pavement failures that began Saturday night, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The northbound side of the highway officially closed around 11:15 p.m. Sunday.
The portion of DeKalb Pike will remain closed until “engineers can assess the extent of the damage and develop a plan to perform additional sinkhole repair,” said the PennDot statement.
Traffic is being redirected down Henderson Road and Saulin Boulevard.
The sinkhole initially cratered and closed the roadway on July 10 after a water main break. The segment of Route 202 reopened to drivers on July 12 after repairs from Pennsylvania American Water, Montgomery County’s water utility provider.
At the time, PennDot spokesperson Brad Rudolph told The Inquirer that “it was unclear what actually caused the sinkhole,” given that a string of heavy rains “could’ve undermined the roadway.”
For the initial repair, PennDot filled the impacted portion of East DeKalb Pike with a 10-inch-thick layer of temporary asphalt, and was set to build a permanent concrete replacement at an unspecified date.
This is the second sinkhole to sprout in Upper Merion this summer: One closed Crooked Lane for a week in June.