City engineers and Severn Trent were called in after a drainage sewer under a street collapsed.
The hole in Stoughton Avenue, Stoneygate, Leicester, was reported to the authorities this morning.
They arrived to find a half-metre wide gap leading to a small cavern about two metres wide and one-and-a-half metres deep. Temporary traffic lights were set up so work could take place over the weekend.
The hole is believed to have been caused by a drainage culvert or water sewer that had eroded.
The cavern, which had water flowing along the bottom of it, was close to a high-pressure gas main, requiring engineers to liaise with Central Networks.
Chris Mason of Leicester City Council traffic management said: "The hole suddenly appeared in Stoughton Avenue, near to the junction with Stoughton Road.
"Luckily it's been reported before anyone got hurt.
"There's a hole in the road and beneath it there's a deep cavern and you can see water rushing underneath.
"We'll have to put two-way traffic lights on Stoughton Road."
