Some Fraser families returning home after sinkhole evacuation

Some Fraser families are expected to return to their homes after they've been displaced by a neighborhood sinkhole for the past few weeks.

As many as 19 families could be coming home on Monday. Twenty two families in total were evacuated from their homes Christmas Eve because of the sinkhole that formed at 15 Mile and Hayes roads in Fraser. A leaky sewer line forced the ground there to give way.

Three homes are being condemned because the sinkhole damage is just so bad. Those foundations have shifted, walls collapsed and driveways have cracked.

Gov. Rick Snyder, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and Public Works Commission Candice Miller all visited the area Sunday to witness the repair process on the 100 ft.-wide and 250 ft.-long sinkhole. Crews there have built a temporary road so the returning families can get to their homes.

The city, county and state have declared states of emergency to pave the way for funding assistance. This will be a very costly repair and one that will take months.

"We have aging infrastructure in our state, and we're going to need to invest more to deal with this issues and to do it in a more preventative fashion than having to respond to situations like this," Gov. Snyder says.

A similiar sinkhole in this area cost about $53 million to repair back in 2004. Repairs took 10 months.

Authorities have not yet released a budget or a timeline for fixing the current sinkhole.

This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 2 for updates.