SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – MoDOT said there is a chance James River Freeway could open earlier than Friday after crews worked to repair a sinkhole.

“Today, we finished up our last concrete pour for the lanes, and now we’re just waiting for all the concrete to reach a strength level that we can then open up the lanes and allow traffic on it,” Assistant District Engineer Laurel McKean said.

McKean said crews had to close all lanes of the freeway to keep drivers and workers safe.

“Three of those four lanes, plus the shoulder had to be excavated,” McKean said. “Once we got in it, we were talking about a 20 to 30-foot hole, you know, that we ended up having to dig out and there’d be no way that you would even want to keep traffic flowing by that.”

McKean said the repair required a lot of manpower.

“It’s taking three or four buildings for us to get enough individuals to do the closure together and open back up,” McKean said. “So it’s taking a lot of people.”

MoDOT said to look on social media for updates on when James River will open.