WHARTON, N.J. — New police body-camera footage shows the moments after the massive sinkhole on I-80 in Wharton, New Jersey opened up.
The sinkhole has shuttered the roadway since December.
Repairs have been ongoing since then, and work is expected to continue for several more weeks.
Local business owners are displeased with the closures, and detour routes are experiencing congestion, leading to gridlock in Wharton and nearby areas in Morris County.
The sinkhole’s formation was swiftly attributed to the mining history of the area, pinpointing the collapse of an old mineshaft under I-80 as the root cause. Since the incident in December, more sinkholes have emerged.
Video footage filmed by a trooper from the New Jersey State Police was made public after a request from ABC News under New Jersey state law. The video depicts two drivers in disbelief as they stand just a few steps away from the sinkhole.
This stretch of I-80 is frequently used by both local commuters along with long-distance drivers traveling between the New York metropolitan area and Pennsylvania, Upstate New York or the Midwest.
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Commuters impacted by detours were encouraged to ride New Jersey Transit trains since the agency has a station in Mount Arlington, west of the area where the sinkholes formed, but rail service is currently suspended due to a strike by engineers.
NJDOT officials expect two eastbound lanes to reopen next week. Two lanes in the westbound direction are set to reopen by the end of the month.
The agency expects the roadway to be 100 percent functional by the end of June.
ABC News contributed to this report.
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