911 calls reports pavement collapse on I-4 ramp

MAITLAND, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The calls started coming in to 911 just before 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon, to report a pavement collapse on an Interstate 4 exit ramp at Maitland Boulevard interchange. One caller said, "I just saw a semi go through it and I thought it was going to flip the semi over.  It is a huge hole!"  Another told the dispatcher, " A couple cars swerved, so I'm not sure if it's getting worse."

But it did get worse after a car drove right into the growing gap on the eastbound exit ramp onto eastbound Maitland Blvd.  No one was hurt, but the ramp had to be closed until Tuesday morning for repairs. The road collapse happened right next to construction for the I-4 Ultimate road expansion project. 

The Florida Department of Transportation described is as an "anomaly."  Crews were drilling horizontally under the exit ramp, and may have struck an old clay pipe, which then broke up and caused the earth to collapse.  An FDOT spokesperson said, "We want the public to know that their safety is on our mind, as well as their trust.  We need their trust, we need them to understand the roads are safe, the conditions are safe, this is a standard procedure, this is just an anomaly we ran into."

FDOT said it will continue to investigate exactly what went wrong.