Another sinkhole opens in Centre County, closing bike path in Ferguson Township
Sept. 13 update: The path has reopened after repairs, Ferguson Township wrote on its website. The cause was determined to be the dissolution of underlying soil over time.
Another sinkhole has opened in Centre County, this time closing a portion of a bike path in Ferguson Township.
The Blue Course Drive shared-use path is closed from Bristol Avenue to Birch Court due to a sinkhole, according to a press release from Ferguson Township.
The opening is along the Blue Course Drive shared-use path and extends into the Haymarket Park stormwater basin, the release states.
The path is expected to be closed for at least three days while township staff assess and mitigate the situation, and determine the cause, according to the release.
Multiple sinkholes have opened up in Centre County in the past year or so. Most recently, a parking deck on Penn State’s campus was closed for a few days in August due to a sinkhole. According to the university, the sinkhole was caused by a failed underground stormwater sewer pipe.
The Centre County Commissioners had to approve emergency funding to assess and repair a sinkhole that opened up in the Centre County sheriff’s department west parking lot in July. Although the opening to the sinkhole was small, it was very large and deep beneath the surface.
And a massive sinkhole opened up in Patton Township last winter and displaced nearly 20 homes. A water main break and sinkhole was in the parking lot of several townhomes on Amblewood Way, State College. At the time, the State College Borough Water Authority said it was of the opinion that the sinkhole had been in existence for a “period of time,” and the water main was not being supported by anything, as it was over the sinkhole. It eventually collapsed.
Sinkholes are not an unheard-of occurrence in Pennsylvania or in the State College area. An example of a sinkhole in Happy Valley is the State College Area School District’s Memorial Field, best known as the home of the Little Lions high school football team. According to the district, the project originated as a Work Progress Administration initiative that turned an infamous sinkhole into a community fixture that has now lasted for nearly a century.
This story was originally published September 11, 2023 at 12:13 PM.
