PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A portion of the Parkway East was closed Thursday morning while crews worked to fix a massive water main break.

The break also has the potential to cause traffic tie-ups later today.

According to officials at the scene, the line broke on Fort Pitt Boulevard between Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Wood Street around 3:30 a.m.

“I round the bend and there’s like three waterfalls of water coming down on the street. Go right through it. My windshield iced up immediately. I couldn’t see a thing.” Brian Smithmeyer said. “It was unavoidable. I had my choice of which waterfall I wanted to go through.”

The 12-inch main broke and caused a section of Fort Pitt Boulevard and Wood Street. With water pumping out for two hours, traffic backups grew when PennDOT shut down lanes of the Parkway temporarily.

With a strong odor of gas, the break also forced about a dozen Point Park University students out of the Conastoga Building.

“There was a leak in the building and that the power was going to be out for a few hours so they had to evacuate everybody,” Breanna Robinson said.

Duquesne Light crews pumped gallons of water out of manholes. Equitable Gas searched for the source of a gas leak, which is believed to be the cause of the break.

Around 9 a.m., engineers and road crews finally broke ground to begin repairs.

Fort Pitt Boulevard will be closed until at least 8 p.m. and crews hope to have one lane of Wood Street open, but won’t be until this evening.

However, all lanes of the Parkway East are open.

RELATED LINKS

More Local News
More Reports From Heather Abraham