A sinkhole opened in the middle of a Hollywood crosswalk Wednesday morning after an 8-inch water main broke near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, sending water rushing down McCadden Place and disrupting traffic across the area. Los Angeles City Fire received a call about the hole, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews rushed to the scene to shut off the flow before it could widen further.
According to KTLA, the hole was located near the Chick-fil-A at Sunset and Highland and measured roughly 20 feet by 20 feet, with water bubbling up through the pavement. KTLA's Sky5 helicopter was over the scene by 8:30 a.m., capturing water pooling in the crosswalk and streaming down the block as LADWP officials worked to contain it. NBC Los Angeles reported the sinkhole was first reported at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and confirmed that LADWP traced the cause to a break in an 8-inch water main.
No Injuries, But Many Unknowns
No injuries were reported in connection with the sinkhole, and officials said crews would need to assess the full extent of the damage once the water finally recedes. It remained unclear Wednesday how many customers lost service or how long the surrounding stretch of Sunset Boulevard would be affected, the same uncertainty NBC Los Angeles noted when it reported that the number of affected customers and a repair timeline were not immediately available.
LADWP indicated that any fix has to be handled carefully so it doesn't throw off water pressure for the broader system, according to the report relayed by KTLA. As of Wednesday, crews were also still working to repair a separate sinkhole nearby on Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive.
A Pattern Along Sunset and Across LA
This is not an isolated headache for the famous boulevard. Earlier in October, a water-main break tore open a large sinkhole on a Los Feliz street and trapped a parked Spectrum van, according to the Los Angeles Times. That break involved a water main about eight inches in diameter and knocked out service to roughly 30 customers, the newspaper reported.
The scale of damage can get far worse. In July, a 110-year-old, 36-inch trunk line burst beneath Sunset Boulevard near Holloway Drive in West Hollywood, releasing an estimated 17 million gallons of water and forcing a closure of the boulevard that lasted more than a week, the Los Angeles Times reported separately. The City of West Hollywood said the response activated roughly 250 LADWP personnel at its peak and that Sunset Boulevard did not fully reopen to traffic until July 24. The city also confirmed no injuries were reported in that incident and said residents with related property damage could still file claims with LADWP.
Aging Pipes Behind the Breaks
The repeated failures point to a system under strain. LADWP has said roughly 30% of the city's water main lines are now more than 80 years old, a figure consistent with the department's 2019 estimate that about 29% of its pipes had crossed that threshold, cited by the Los Angeles Times. The figures highlight the age of much of the system.
LADWP is now in the midst of an $8 billion, five-year Water System Capital Plan aimed at replacing about 240,000 feet of mainline pipe each year, as well as 6,047 feet of trunk line pipe, with high-risk pipelines prioritized first. About 6% of mainline has a high-priority rating, while aging infrastructure, including whatever lies beneath Wednesday's stretch of Sunset Boulevard, remains. For now, the story remains a developing one, with LADWP crews focused on stopping the water, clearing the street and figuring out exactly what repairs the broken Hollywood water main will require.
