MAITLAND, Fla. – The eastbound off-ramp on Interstate 4 at Maitland Boulevard reopened Tuesday morning after crews worked through the night to fill what they are calling an "asphalt failure."
[PICS: Sinkhole shuts down I-4 ramp | TRAFFIC: See live conditions]
"It's a little scary because I take on- and off-ramps every day coming and going to work, so it's a little scary,"Â driver Jessica Mylett said.
The Florida Department of Transportation said the hole in the road was caused by construction crews, adding that workers may have struck an undetected clay pipe or an unsuspected water build-up underneath the asphalt.
"By the grace of God he -- the driver -- really was alert and just sideswiped it because I don't know if he would generally get lucky like that because that would have definitely sucked up his car," said Ed Isola, owner of an office building next to the off-ramp.Â
Mylett, who also works in the area, said that drilling has been a common occurrence in the past month. Â
"You can feel it. Like, you'll feel a vibration and, kind of, the mouse will be moving on our desks, but it's mostly the noise because it's literally all day, and so you leave and it's like still ringing in your ears," Mylett said.
Understanding that accidents happen, Isola said that crews stepped in to fix the problem right away.
"It seems like they jumped on it immediately. They are doing the right thing, and I think they are going to use this to safeguard the public moving forward."
With several years left of The Big Drive project on I-4 in Central Florida, drivers hope nothing like this ever happens again.
"They really need to assure all of us and the public, the engineers or something, to let us know it is not going to happen again," driver Carole Edman said.
FDOT also said that it is still determining whether the ramp will need to be closed in the future in order to finish the construction in the area.