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Update: Old Pearsall Road now open following repair of hole in street

The Texas Department of Transportation was responsible for maintenance in the area.

SAN ANTONIO — A major road has now reopened after crews repaired a massive crater. 

Previously, a big chunk of Old Pearsall Road disappeared Tuesday night on the city's southwest side.

It happened in the Medio Creek crossing area between Excellence Drive and Covel Road, outside Loop 410.

The Texas Department of Transportation was responsible for maintenance in the area, and their social media posts indicated the road would be closed until further notice.

However, the tweeted on Thursday at 5:21 a.m. that the lanes are open.

As soon as word spread about the issue, Southwest ISD officials started notifying parents that the major connector to their district campus would be closed.

A district spokesman said parents were notified that bus route pickup and drop off times would be delayed.

"Road Closed" signs went up at Loop 410 and at Excellence Drive, but they did little to deter hundreds of westbound drivers who passed the markers and then found themselves stuck at a dead end where they had to turn around and backtrack. Eastbound traffic was detoured north onto Covel Road.

Another source of heavy traffic relates to a large waste management landfill site on Covel Road. Trucks that usually access the facility via Old Pearsall were routed instead to Rey Ellison Drive to the north.

On Wednesday morning, as crews began digging to repair what they believed was a sewer main break, they discovered the problem with soil falling away and the roadway collapsing had nothing to do with a SAWS line.

With the discovery that SAWS was not responsible for the issue, all of the resources the water company had brought to the area were removed and TxDOT took over repair work.

TxDOT did not provide an explanation for why the road collapsed, but several onlookers did point out that a large construction project just upstream from the Medio Creek bridge has changed storm water runoff patterns in the area.

There have been no injuries reported related to the road collapse.

A spokesperson for Southwest ISD urged parents to monitor their email for further updates or to follow the district at @swisd on Twitter.

On Twitter and Facebook, local TxDOT officials were providing updates from the district office.

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