A massive sinkhole is continuing to grow outside the Auckland police headquarters, with detours in place for the second straight day.
The sinkhole on College Hill Road in the central Auckland suburb of Freeman's Bay was first spotted on Monday afternoon and has grown larger overnight.
"FYI there's a sinkhole forming on College Hill right now," a Twitter post read, accompanied by a video of the road collapsing into the sinkhole.
It's estimated to be about 1.6 metres deep, 3.5m long and 2.5m wide, with a hole tunnelling under the road for about 1.5m.
Right next to the sinkhole is another covered-up hole that was formed during the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods in January, which has reportedly never been repaired, according to locals.
Andrew Skelton, the council's head of area operations for healthy waters, told Newshub his team on site identified a stormwater pipe that was due for renewal in August had developed further damage, causing the soil and road above it to subside.
Skelton confirmed temporary work is underway to secure the damage and protect the road, which should be completed by the end of the week.
"As Healthy Waters already had plans and a design in place to complete this pipe renewal, this work will begin immediately following the temporary fix to the pipe and road," Skelton said.
Eastbound lanes towards the Auckland CBD are closed while works are underway, while one lane is open westbound towards Ponsonby.
"We thank those travelling in this area for their patience and understanding during this period of disruption," Skelton said.
The sinkhole has seen roads closed on Monday and Auckland Transport (AT) told Newshub on Tuesday roads were still affected.
There is a one-way detour westbound on College Hill, while a temporary detour is in place on England St, Ireland St and Scotland St.
Auckland motorists are recommended to use Franklin Road to avoid delays on College Hill.
Newshub reporter Emma Olsen, speaking from the scene, said the sinkhole has grown "significantly" since Monday.
"I spoke to someone who works nearby and they said there has been a crack in the road since the start of the year, since the Auckland floods in January, and they believe the bad weather is what has caused this sinkhole," she said on Newshub Live at 11:30am.
Olsen said engineers have been on site all morning and they'll bring fencing in, which will replace the cones that are currently in place around the sinkhole and then repairs will get underway.
The sinkhole is also just metres away from where the harbour's high watermark was in 1840.
A Newshub camera person captured photos showing the sinkhole coned off and workers at the scene.
Fortis Travel managing director Blair Huston told Stuff the situation is "bloody dangerous", with busy traffic forced onto one lane for more than five months.
"I go past there three or four times a day and since then I have never seen a workman on it ever," Huston said.
