Rt. 202 closure to last into Saturday

A section of the northbound lanes of U.S. Route 202 near the King of Prussia Mall is expected to be closed until Saturday afternoon as crews make emergency road and utility-line repairs because of a sinkhole.

Gene Blaum, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said a 70-foot section of the left lane of the two-lane northbound side had sunk four to six inches.

PennDot closed both northbound lanes near Gulph Road at 7 a.m. Friday and later announced that part of the road would remain open to motorists turning left onto Mall Boulevard.

Through traffic will be detoured to South Gulph Road, Church Road, and Henderson Road to get around the road closure.

Besides the roadway damage, a municipal sewer line may have been ruptured, and Blaum said repairing that would require excavation of the sunken section.

About 22,000 vehicles a day travel on northbound Route 202 in the area of the Mall Boulevard, PennDot said.

Motorists can go to www.511pa.com or call 511 from any phone to check traffic conditions on Route 202 and major highways before heading out.