Traffic was diverted near the White House Tuesday after a sinkhole emerged on a road that runs parallel to its grounds.
Metropolitan Police in Washington, D.C., shared updates regarding the hazard on social media, including that the district’s roadway operations patrol and public works crews were on their way to direct traffic and repair the road.
Update
Street Bridge/Maintenance and DDOT ROP crews are en route for repairs and traffic control
Motorists can utilize 18th St, 15th St, K St, Virginia Ave, Constitution Ave as alternative pic.twitter.com/VRno3fTBjR— DC Police Traffic (@DCPoliceTraffic) January 22, 2019
Images were also posted online by Sergio Gor, an aide to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
“Sinkhole just opened up on 17th street NW, one block away from the White House!” Gor wrote.
Sinkhole just opened up on 17th street NW, one block away from the White House! pic.twitter.com/JjSMA1gm1I
— Sergio Gor (@SergioGor) January 22, 2019
In May, two small sinkholes formed next to each other on the White House’s north lawn near the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. Reporters quickly took to Twitter to make jokes alluding to Trump’s campaign promise of draining the swamp on which the nation’s capital was founded.
This week I’ve been observing a sinkhole on the @WhiteHouse North Lawn, just outside the press briefing room, growing larger by the day. pic.twitter.com/BsFUtxFqpB
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) May 22, 2018
The soil disturbances, caused by heavy rain, did not pose a threat to the White House, the National Park Service later found.
“@NatlParkService has completed excavation around White House sinkhole. We will plug with concrete, fill excavated area, and resod. Excavation confirmed it poses no risk to @WhiteHouse,” NPS spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles said at the time.
@NatlParkService has completed excavation around White House sinkhole. We will plug with concrete, fill excavated area, and resod. Excavation confirmed it poses no risk to @WhiteHouse. DC has had more than double average May rainfall. Sinkholes are common following heavy rain. pic.twitter.com/FrHb9WmGJl
— Jenny A-S NPS (@NPSJennyAS) May 25, 2018
