Lynden sinkhole could cost $1 million to fix, city says

LYNDEN, Wash. -- A sinkhole that swallowed a street in Lynden could cost the city up to $1 million to repair.

According to Lynden Public Works director Steve Banham, a homeowner on N 8th St. near Ivy St. noticed the sinkhole late Wednesday.

Crews responded right away and discovered a 30-foot stretch of the road was gone. Crews pumped out soil and removed pavement around the creek to keep it from falling in which would have created a dam.

Banham said there is a culvert that runs beneath the road there that carries water under the road. That culvert is old and officials say with the recent snowmelt they've had much higher water levels than normal. That caused the culvert to fail creating the sinkhole.

“The road’s not over it anymore,” Banham told the Bellingham Herald. “The creek has won.”

The culvert has been completely removed, and will need to be replaced with a new larger one, but Banham said that will take time -- possibly months. The cost to replace it could be $500,000 to $1 million, he said.

Banham said there are other ways to get to each side of the neighborhood, so no one is cut off from their homes. Detours are available using N. Park St. or Pine St.