MUNCIE — Hopefully it's not serious, but three mini sinkholes have formed in downtown streets that were reconstructed as part of a major, ongoing storm sewer and brick sidewalk project.
Two of the bowl-shaped cavities are occurring in the middle of Walnut Street between Vera Mae's Bistro and Casa Del Sol Mexican Grill.
"About two weeks we saw a slight indentation in the pavement, not really noticeable at all but I did notice it," said Kent Shuff, co-owner at Vera Mae's. "And then by the end of that day it had grown about twice that big, but now it's at a standstill, so it's not gotten any deeper or changed any in the last two weeks."
He compared the size of the depressions, which have been barricaded by the Muncie Sanitary District, to large salad bowls.
On Friday, The Star Press was alerted to a third sinkhole just around the corner in a parking space on Adams Street, half a block east of Walnut. Later in the day, it, too, was barricaded.
The Walnut Street reconstruction, including installation of a trench storm drain, was only 18 inches deep.