A sinkhole has blocked a lane of traffic along Truxtun Avenue near the Westside Parkway onramp.
The sinkhole opened up around 4 p.m. Sunday and crews are still trying to figure out where the water is coming from.
Bakersfield City Public Works was notified about the sinkhole by the police department after several vehicles were involved in accidents because of the sinkhole.
Nick Fidler, the director of Public Works said five vehicles hit the sinkhole and three of those vehicles had to be towed away.
Cal Water was called out to test the water to see if it was drinking water from a water main, but the test came back negative.
Fidler said right now Public Works hasn't determined where the water is coming from and said it would be very difficult for a water main to cause that volume of water in the area based on where they are located.
Right now Public Works is keeping an eye on the water to make sure the nearby storm water vault is working to keep the water moving out of the area.
Officials are also surveying the water in the Kern River as well as water elevation in the sinkhole to try to determine if there is a correlation between two.
They have researchers working on the project as well.
Fidler said he doesn't know how long it will take to repair the sinkhole, because they need the water levels to go down. Right now they are waiting to determine exactly where the water is coming from so that they can develop a strategic action plan.
