It happened on 17th Street between Walnut and Locust.
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That stretch of the street was shut down, causing a big traffic headache in the area, and it could remain closed into Wednesday.
It started Monday night, when the Philadelphia Water Department was called out for a leak in the street.
Crews found small, deep hole in the road. They identified the problem was caused a three-inch break in a service connection to a nearby high-rise building.
No water was running to the properties upstairs and, by mid-morning, the water was off downstairs too.
Earlier Tuesday, PWD was ready to turn the water back on- and begin examining the issue more closely, but a live wire underground posed a potential problem. So, PECO was summoned to deal with the electrical issue.
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Their work required an even bigger hole to be opened in the street.
"As soon as we have the water restored, we will begin investigating the cause of the cave-in," said PWD spokesman John DiGiulio.
Sinkhole closes 17th Street
Traffic crawled along Walnut and 17th. Horns were honking with motorists frustrated and upset by the back-up.
"It's very crowded. We're moving maybe one car per light," said Nancy Linton of Avondale, Pa.
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"I think I've been here for like 20 minutes, for one block, just trying to get forward," said Lisa Tynes of Voorhees, New Jersey.
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