Water floods Hillsdale Street

Home News Water floods Hillsdale Street
Water floods Hillsdale Street

A water main broke on Hillsdale Street late Tuesday morning, flooding the road and leaving buildings in the area without water.
The main burst around 11:30 p.m. in front of Broad Lawn and blew a gaping hole in the front of President Larry Arnn’s lawn. The main should be fixed within several hours, said Kevin Lawrence, Board of Public Utilities Water Superintendent.
Several buildings on campus are without water as a result of the break. Several college administrators were unsure how many buildings dried out after the burst.
Brown water swept down both sides of Hillsdale Street and water pooled several inches deep at the corner of Hillsdale and College Streets. Students had trouble crossing the road with dry feet.
Lawrence said city workers shut down six water valves around the break to stop the flooding. The shutdown stopped water flow to buildings on either side of Hillsdale Street. By 12:30 p.m., the flow had slowed to a lazy stream.
Police and other city workers blocked off the road. Crews will dig down to the pipe to see what they need to do to fix the break, Lawrence said.
He said breaks like this aren’t uncommon due to the ground’s freezing and thawing, although they are more common in the winter. He said the Hillsdale Street’s main is a particularly big pipe to burst.
“We’ll get it fixed as soon as we can,” he said.