HILLSBORO — Commuters may need to seek alternate routes as a sinkhole along Illinois Route 185 between Hillsboro and Coffeen has resulted in it closing indefinitely.
Over the weekend, a large sinkhole was discovered 35 to 40 feet away from the highway roughly a mile and a half east of Graham Correctional Center.
Representatives from Montgomery County EMA, Ameren Illinois, and Deer Run Mine, as well the Illinois Departments of Transportation and Natural Resources, have been monitoring the situation on site regularly.
“IDOT is not going to let traffic go back through until they know it’s safe,” said Dan Hough, deputy director for Montgomery County EMA.
Hough additionally notes that the sinkhole has developed to be approximately 95 feet wide, but also now only 20 feet from Illinois Route 185. Initial reports also thought the sinkhole could be as deep as 400 feet. Hough contests that they don’t believe it’s that deep anymore.
He also noted that they can’t get anywhere close to it. However, they have utilized a drone to attempt collecting additional information. It could be possible that they could bring in some drilling equipment to take core samples.
“At this point, we’re trying to understand what’s going on to see what the next steps are,” Hough said. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty.”
Officials from Hillsboro Energy LLC, owners of the Deer Run Mine was on site Monday for further analysis of the situation.
“It’s just a waiting game at this point,” Hough adds. “We’re waiting on the coal mine to tell us what caused it and how to fix it.”
Hough has also been corresponding with the National Weather Service regarding the forecast. Chances of showers and thunderstorms tonight and possibly Tuesday could make the hole even larger.
Hough doesn’t believe at this time that anyone is currently at risk.
“There are no gas lines in that area,” Hough said. “There’s no major threat as long as people stay away, but it will be a major inconvenience for the time being.”
The impacted area runs from 9th Avenue to School House Road. Detour signs have been posted. Alternate routes to Coffeen from Hillsboro include 9th Avenue to Coffeen Road to the north and Buckeye Trail to 6th Avenue to the south. Other alternate routes will need to be discussed with IDOT. Prepare for delays.
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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.
