Hole to be repaired after SUV plunges into it

The city of Atlanta appears to be making good a promise to fix a giant hole that a mother and her two children drove into after a metal plate that covered it shifted, sending their SUV straight into it.

The city said Watershed Management crews will be out beginning at 11 p.m. Friday to make repairs to the water main in the 600 block of Ponce de Leon Avenue NE.

Traffic in the area in between Glen Iris Drive NE and Ponce de Leon Place NE will be impacted with at least one westbound lane closed to traffic expected to last into the early Saturday morning hours. Water officials also said the area around the repair may be interrupted.

The water main break became a nightmare for a mother driving on Ponce de Leon Wednesday afternoon. FOX 5’s Tom Haynes was there moments after a Honda CRV fell into the hole on Ponce De Leon Avenue in front of Ponce City Market around 1:30 p.m. 

Fighting back tears, the mother, who did not want to be identified, said explained how the whole thing happened in an instant. She said the plate just shifted and her SUV ended up in the hole with its rear-end sticking up in the air.

Police credit the slow speed in helping to keep the family safe during the incident. 

A spokesperson for Atlanta Water told FOX 5’s Tom Haynes that accidents like this one are extremely rare. They reset the plate and promised to fix the issue on Friday.

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