Frightening sinkhole swallows portion of NJ interstate during morning commute

On the day back from the Christmas holiday, commuters in North Jersey were subjected to a traffic nightmare when a portion of an interstate highway collapsed.

A sinkhole large enough to fit an entire vehicle appeared on the shoulder of Route 80 just after Exit 34 in Wharton. Fortunately, no cars fell in.

UPDATE: Cause of monster sinkhole revealed

The collapsed roadway was reported about 7:35 a.m. Thursday, closing the eastbound lanes and detouring all traffic to Exit 34 to Route 15/Wharton/Dover/Sparta.

(Google Maps/Canva/Townsquare Media illustration)

The Department of Transportation said it was designing an emergency repair. It was not immediately clear how long the repairs would take.

The sinkhole and resulting traffic was the talk of a 94,700-member Facebook group devoted to commiserating about the Morris County interstate.

"It was nuts, I got off exit 34 to take a detour," one commuter said. "Cars were driving on the opposite side of the highway to be directed to get off exit 34."

"Sink hole?? What is this an obstacle course now?" another commuter quipped. "When will the giant bolder show up?"

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