I-4's lanes will still be closed Thursday morning

Traffic on Interstate 4 won't be any better by Thursday morning.

Crews are still working to repair a road depression that has shut down three of the interstate's four eastbound lanes near the Branch Forbes Road exit. Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation said they don't know when the lanes will reopen but it won't be by the Thursday morning commute.

One note of good news is the reopening of the entrance ramp for I-4 at Alexander Street. A sinkhole 15 feet from the ramp that measured 12 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep was stabilized with dirt and the ramp was open around 11 p.m. Wednesday, said FDOT spokeswoman Marian Scorza. The sinkhole had closed the ramp Wednesday.

Authorities found a depression in the eastbound lanes of I-4 near Branch Forbes Road on Tuesday afternoon and quickly closed two lanes, then a third. DOT workers used ground-penetrating radar and took soil samples overnight but are still trying to find out what caused a two-inch buckle in the road surface that extended 24 feet wide.

Sgt. Larry Kraus, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, said the highway patrol does not have a timeline on when the eastbound lanes will reopen. He said motorists should continue to use alternate routes and avoid the area.

"We really don't know the timeline for when it's going to change," he said.

Scorza said one hole has been drilled around the depression and is being filled with concrete. She expects that approximately nine holes will need to be drilled around the depression, but the exact number won't be known until more holes are drilled and work is done to stabilize the area.

With an estimated 47,000 vehicles a day using eastbound I-4, transportation officials are asking motorists to be patient. Alternate routes include U.S. 92 and Thonotosassa Road, but they clogged quickly as thousands of motorists detoured to those roads.

Sinkholes also have caused the closure of numerous other roads in the Plant City area, along with a two-mile stretch of U.S. 27 between State Road 60 and County Road 640 in Polk County.