Deadly hazardous sinkhole at a Rand Road sidewalk just northwest of Beverly Avenue in Arlington Heights (CARDINAL NEWS). YouTube Tips ⓘ
A police Community Service Officer from Arlington Heights responded about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, 2026 to a report of a hazardous sinkhole adjacent to a sidewalk on the south side of Rand Road in front of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore Arlington Heights facility, 955 East Rand Road in Arlington Heights.
The caller reporting the sinkhole? CARDINAL NEWS.
The sinkhole was big enough to swallow a bicycle and a bicyclist or a few pedestrians. Imagine you are walking along the sidewalk in the dark with two other pedestrians walking toward you oncoming. You do the courteous thing and walk on the grass to allow the two pedestrians to continue their conversation while they walk past you. Unfortunately, in the dark, you don’t notice the hole, and suddenly you are five feet underground. If you’re lucky, in a fall into the hole you would only suffer a few scrapes, but the fall has the potential of causing a broken leg, broken hip, broken arm, skull fracture and head injury from hitting the edge of the sidewalk on the way down, and possibly a paralyzing or fatal cervical fracture … or all of these traumatic injuries.
Initially, the sinkhole was assessed by CARDINAL NEWS to be a sudden washout issue with recent heavy rains, but after a little investigation, CARDINAL NEWS discovered that the Habitat for Humanity ReStore Arlington Heights store has been having trouble getting the issue resolved with the Village of Arlington Heights for the past two years. Off camera, a worker at the store told CARDINAL NEWS that Habitat for Humanity ReStore Arlington Heights has attempted multiple times to get the Village of Arlington Heights to resolve the issue with the sinkhole.
With no effective response from the Village of Arlington Heights, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore Arlington Heights had even tried to fill in the hole with their own workers to remedy the hazard. However, apparently there is a broken drainage pipe under the sidewalk. When there is heavy rain, water rushes out of the broken drainage pipe and washes away the dirt, mud, gravel and turf under the sidewalk. Apparently, there has been some Village of Arlington Heights shirking of responsibility because of the location near private property. However, since the drainage pipe is directly under the sidewalk, Habitat for Humanity ReStore Arlington Heights contends that the repair is the responsibility of the Village of Arlington Heights.
Currently, the sidewalk remains unsupported by any subsurface dirt or gravel, and an agent for Habitat for Humanity ReStore Arlington Heights is worried the sidewalk could collapse, especially under the weight of a landscaping mower or other motorized vehicle that is heavy enough.
As of Wednesday, July 22, 2026, the sinkhole has not been repaired, and was “guarded” by fence posts and yellow crime scene tape or perimeter hazard tape.
DEVELOPING …
The information in this article is an early report published before any summary information was confirmed or released by police, fire, public works or Village of Arlington Heights authorities.
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