They actually painted that yellow box in the road months ago, before the leak started. I think these 'emergency repairs on a collapsed sewer' were planned more than 2 months in advance and had nothing to do with the fresh water that is continuing to leak out of the ground and is beginning to seriously dent the road, with splashing going the door of the betting shop when buses go past.
Perhaps they could come back and close off the other side of the road for a week while they try to fix the leak for another year.