Regina couple still waiting for sinkhole to be fixed in front of their home

What started as a small washout is turning into a sinkhole in front of the home of a Regina couple.

It began as a baseball-sized hole, but it has slowly been crumbling inward to make a basketball-sized hole in the street in front of the house of Darryl and Bonita Breher on Arthur Street in the Coventry Place neighbourhood.

Darryl first noticed the hole in March and then called the City of Regina to request crews to come fix it as it began to worsen. Since then, a staff member put a construction blockade over the hole and took photos, but nothing has been fixed yet.

“Right now, we are starting to see the concrete fall in more and more, and (the hole is) getting bigger and bigger,” said Bonita.

Now, the concrete is crumbling inwards and the pavement is starting to heave upwards, the sidewalk is starting to crack down the side, and there still isn’t any sign that the city is coming.

Darryl and Bonita Breher have been waiting months for City of Regina crews to come and fix the sinkhole in front of their home on Arthur Street, in Regina, August 30, 2023. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

“About two weeks ago is when I called to find out if they were coming. That’s when they said they didn’t have a clue when,” said Darryl.

The hole is tunneling sideways by about five or six feet, but it’s difficult to be sure because it’s starting to fill up with leaves, litter and twigs that have blown in there.

Darryl and Bonita were worried the concrete surrounding the hole may give way if someone drives over it. Bonita said they get a lot of traffic at their home west of Lewvan Drive with Government House nearby, and a school down the street.

Every few days the construction blockade is moved by people, and Darryl has gone looking for it to be moved back on.

“Lots of traffic comes down the street like school buses,” said Bonita. “We have lots of kids coming through here right now because we have a bunch of younger families here now.”

The hole has piqued the interest of children in the neighbourhood. More than once Bonita has had to shoo children away from it.

The sinkhole has been slowly tunneling deeper over months since it first began to form in front of Darryl and Bonita Breher’s home on Arthur Street, in Regina, August 30, 2023. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)

“The kids play around it, and I don’t want to be sitting out there all the time watching the kids to make sure they (don’t) fall in. We don’t want that to happen,” said Bonita.

Darryl said if the city puts the repairs off until spring, he is sure someone will fall in.

“I think it should be fixed right away,” said Darryl.

The street slopes slightly to the east, which causes rainwater to run into the hole.

“If it rains, it smells like sewer out there for a week,” said Darryl.

The Brehers said none of their neighbours would park near the hole in fear of the ground collapsing.

Other than one large sinkhole that formed after a storm trunk collapsed near the Albert Street Bridge, Kurtis Doney said the city has not seen a large number of sinkholes this year.

“There is nothing of that significance. We are continuing to replace our wastewater and stormwater upgrades to reduce that from occurring so there is still risk of that happening,” said Doney.

Doney, the city’s acting executive director of citizen services, said there hasn’t been a significant number of calls about sinkholes, and the city has seen fewer water main breaks than in previous years because of dry weather.

“Typically, sinkholes are large pipes that have collapsed causing significant impacts to roads and residents,” the City of Regina said in an emailed statement. “Smaller washouts also occur, and they are repaired based on a priority system.”

According to the city, there are about 100 service requests for washouts in Regina, which is higher than the 2022 number of 78 service requests.

Regina has also seen a lower number of water main breaks this year; the number can range between 150 and 300 water main breaks per year.

Doney encouraged people who see sinkholes or washouts in their neighbourhoods to report them to the city.

The City of Regina confirmed that an inspection on Arthur Street has occurred, and the hole should be repaired in the next couple of weeks.

Bonita said she and her husband did their due diligence by calling the city, but now they are worried about safety issues.

“With kids going back to school, and we have the school buses going up and down the street, that’s not going to be safe either,” she said. “Especially if there (are) kids on the bus.”

The City of Regina is not aware of any major sinkholes that are not actively being repaired.