TOP PHOTO: Darren Foust (left) and Brian Leach with La Follette Public Works set out orange cones directing traffic to the left lane.

Here’s a look at the sink hole street level and then how deep it is a few feet below the street.

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – Eastbound traffic near the post office in La Follette is down to one lane, the left, because there is a sink hole that has developed.

LPD Officer Darryl Chapman holds off traffic so a street department crew could set out cones and the flashing arrow truck.

“Watch your step. It’s deep (the sink hole). It’s all the way over to the white stripe,” said La Follette Patrolman Darryl Chapman. Chapman was on the scene directing traffic around the sink hole while a crew with the La Follette Street Department parked its arrow truck and set out cones to alert travelers that there’s a problem.

Left to right: Casey Boshears, Ronnie Lee, Darian Foust and Brian Leach assess the situation at the sink hole (where Leach is standing) across from the La Follette Post Office.

Casey Boshears, Director of La Follette Public Works, noticed the sink hole at 10:35am Sunday morning, and he and his crew of Darian Foust and Brian Leach went right to work.

Traffic had to use a portion of the turn lane until detour cones could be put in place.

Ronnie Lee, with TDOT, was called out of church to respond to the scene. One person described the area as being “washed out.”

East Elm Street is closed off to the four lane near the La Follette Post Office.
Brian Leach sets down a detour cone with Casey Boshears behind the wheel while Ronnie Lee is on the phone with TDOT.

“Engineers with TDOT will be here today to assess the situation. It may be Monday before they start construction,” said Boshears. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 08/01/2021-NOON)