COLUMBIA, S.C. — Residents of the South Kilbourne Neighborhood in Columbia reached out to News 19 about a large hole on the corner of Overbrook Drive and Suber Street.
Deep freezing temperatures in December caused a water main break underneath the street.
“It was a huge amount of water came out of there onto Overbrook into the creek," Patrick Mahoney said. "I don’t know if it flooded any houses, but it caused a lot of concern."
Mahoney has lived on Overbrook Drive in Columbia’s South Kilbourne neighborhood for more than 2 decades.
After Columbia Water fixed the leak, it left a large hole behind, stopping traffic.
“There was two holes and they filled the one right there and left the one right here,” Jeffrey Scott said.
Scott is the pastor at Calvary Baptist Church on Overbrook Drive. He lives a few houses down from Mahoney.
“They’ll fix emergencies right away. Anything else, they can sit and sit and sit for months,” Mahoney said.
According to Scott, this isn't the first time this has happened.
“This one has broken three times in the last couple of years. And each time it takes several months for them to come back and fill it in,” he said.
Cold temperatures impact the way the City prioritizes leaks and filling holes left behind. Temperatures below 40 degrees affect the city’s ability to fill holes effectively.
“We certainly want to do it as quickly as possible for the neighborhoods, Council Member Howard Duvall said. "Unfortunately, we’re not able to get out and get everything patched as rapidly as we would like."
Duvall explains how decisions are made.
“The Columbia water has a priority for fixing leaks and it has a priority for patching the roads after those leaks have been fixed.”
Residents said they're still concerned with where this hole falls on the list of priorities.
“I expect this hole is gonna be here until they get around to it cause they’re so overwhelmed with work. The infrastructure is so old and it's constantly breaking," Mahoney said.
Councilman Duvall said if you have holes like this in your neighborhood, call SCDOT 803-737-1200 to help determine who manages your street to then get them fixed.