Omaha officials say erosion is cause of downtown hole, parking evacuation was miscommunication

Omaha City Engineer Austin Rowser said Wednesday that the weekend's rain caused erosion of gravel in a streetcar construction zone, and the latest hole that's grabbed attention. He said it's common and there was never a safety issue.

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Omaha officials say erosion caused downtown hole, parking evacuation was miscommunication

OMAHA, Neb. —

Omaha City Engineer Austin Rowser says the latest hole that’s grabbed the city’s attention was caused by erosion from the weekend’s rain.

A parking garage at 9th and Farnam in Omaha was evacuated Tuesday after residents of the Greenhouse Apartments received an “urgent” text asking them to move their cars out of a private garage to the east of the apartments. A public works official said Wednesday that was a “miscommunication.”

Rowser said there was never a safety concern, and erosion of exposed gravel and soil during construction work is common.

To repair and inspect the hole, crews were forced to close the public lot at 9th and Farnam. A large plate served as a bridge to allow access to the lot during streetcar construction.

The only lot that needed to be cleared belongs to Park Omaha, city officials said Wednesday. It is separate and above the private parking garage.

The apartment hasn’t responded to KETV, but an apartment manager emailed residents and apologized for the urgency, saying they “weren’t perfectly informed,” according to an email provided by a resident.

Rowser said crews “try to mitigate any soil loss from a construction site through stormwater controls, but we can’t ever stop that erosion from happening when we have rainfall.”

He added: “Obviously, we have quite a bit of grade here, so we got a lot of velocity with the rainfall when it runs off.”

Jack Kadzis, who lives in the Greenhouse apartments building and parks in the separate Park Omaha lot, said the hole is “a lot deeper, and it looks almost like there might be like two small holes now.”

Rowser said he expects Kiewit crews to wrap up the section of streetcar work with little delay because of the erosion.

In a separate incident at 38th and Farnam from last week, the city says a collapsed wall caused another hole. The city has hired 24/7 security for the area. Many people have crossed barriers to get a closer look, which is dangerous and illegal, a public works official said.

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