Crews continue to repair broken water main at major Cleveland intersection

CLEVELAND - A water main break in Cleveland causes a mess for water department officials and drivers after a major intersection is shut down.

Nicole Keting awoke to flashing lights outside her Kamm's Corner condo Monday. She thought there was a car crash at the intersection of Rocky River Drive and Lorain Road in Cleveland.

"I thought someone had hit a fire hydrant," said Keting.

It was an accident of a different kind. A broken water main sent water rushing into the streets.

"Water was pouring all through here, pouring west bound, south bound," she said.

"The police shut down the intersection for safety reasons, because the water at that point was not shut off so it was buckling the pavement," said Tom Scullin with the Division of Water.

Once the water was shut off, the work could begin.

No homes or businesses were without water but nearby Our Lady of Angels school closed because of the blocked off intersection.

Division of water officials said fixing the 10-inch line won't be the only repairs.

"This was a streetscape project that had taken place over the last year and the difficult thing is that we are going to have to restore it to what they just put in here. That adds cost to this job because of that fact," said Scullin.

The city just completed a $2.2 million project project to improve the area this summer bringing new streets, sidewalks and utilities to Kamm's Corners.

Once the pipe is fixed, crews will have to restore the street to match the new look.

"They spend all this money to beautify this area, so we have to put it back the way it was," said Scullin.

The line is located six feet below street level but first crews had to get through underground utility lines that are three feet below the street.

Officials said work should take several days.