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Oceanside sinkhole continues to impact businesses

SR 78 westbound lanes closed because of sinkhole
Posted at 5:49 PM, Mar 22, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-23 16:26:56-04

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — It's now been nearly a week since the sinkhole off of SR-78 formed.

It's impacting hundreds in North County, including Jerome's Furniture.

"Truly, it's been a little bit tough for both our employees and customers just navigating around the sinkhole," said Morrow Botros, regional manager.

He said in the past six days, they've seen traffic in the store drop anywhere from 10 to 15 percent.

He added a handful of deliveries have had to be postponed.

When he heard construction to fix the sinkhole would take a little longer than expected, this was his reaction.

"It was a big ahh," he said. "Every delivery and every customer counts."

The store has pivoted to continue to sell its products by sending customers online and by taking orders by phone.

It's not just his customers impacted. It's his employees.

Just ask the store's sales supervisor.

"Last night around 9:30 p.m., due to the sinkhole and the freeway being shut down," said Sam Brunson. "I was diverted off and got off at college, and as I was exiting, there was a massive pothole."

Brunson said he's now without a car for at least the rest of the week and says he's working on filing a claim.

"As you can see, it split all that right there came off the actual rim itself. So, it essentially became two pieces," he said.

Brunson estimated the damages to be at least $500.

"I still have to figure out if there's anything wrong with the car itself," he said.

Caltrans expects the 78 to remain closed throughout the rest of the week. That means drivers will be detoured off at the College Avenue exit.