Sometime overnight Monday, thankfully while nobody was driving down the street, a sinkhole opened up in the middle of Lauderdale Street.

The sinkhole is one just a few feet up from a smaller hole that opened weeks ago in front of the Bienville monument. That’s in addition to erosion that has closed parts of Water Avenue near the Carneal ArtsRevive building.

It’s really nobody’s fault — except maybe Father Time — that these sinkholes are happening. The truth is Selma is an old city with aging infrastructure.

It will be costly and timely to address the problem that is causing the road to cave in. A century old clay pipe for storm water is collapsing and take the street with it.

The pipe was repaired in places last year and has been a recurring problem since December 2013, when a sinkhole first opened in front of the monument.

It’s not outside the realm of possibility to think that if something isn’t done, the sinkholes could lead to loss of property or even result in injuries.

In addition to that, Water Avenue and the Edmund Pettus Bridge draw people from across the world to Selma. Caved in roads and caution tape isn’t the view we want to offer these guests.

It’s time to come up with a lasting solution. The issue is expected to be brought up at the next Selma City Council meeting. We hope to see action to fix the problem.