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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – The city has put a fence up around the now famous Canal Street sinkhole.

And while Mayor Mitch Landrieu told reporters Friday afternoon that the Sinkhole de Mayo party near the site of the sinkhole was funny, he stressed that the sinkhole is “a very serious problem.”

“Only in the city of New Orleans can we find a way to celebrate in strange ways,” he said.

He said Friday that the city put up a fence around the sinkhole to keep visitors from getting too close to what is now a construction zone.

The sinkhole formed on Canal Street near Harrah’s Friday, April 29, over an inactive tunnel that was once slated to become an underground highway. Plans for that underground roadway were abandoned decades ago.

Landrieu said what we’re seeing here is happening in other cities, too.

“The number one issue for mayors across America is to have the kind of resources we need to fix decaying infrastructure across the United States,” he said.

The city estimates it will take $3 million to $5 million and three-six months to fix the sinkhole on Canal Street.

Mitch Landrieu updates reporters on the Canal Street sinkhole Friday afternoon
Mitch Landrieu updates reporters on the Canal Street sinkhole Friday afternoon