SAN DIEGO, CA — Authorities said that the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 in San Diego were shut down for several hours Monday due to a water main break. The highway runs through downtown.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the pipeline burst on Sunday evening. Crews from the city shut down the pipes that were feeding the area at 1 a.m. Monday. At midday, the highway, on-and off-ramps, and streets surrounding it remained submerged.
Officer Mark Latulippe, a highway patrol officer, stated that “at this point it is simply because the drains have overloaded.”
Authorities said that three northbound lanes were finally reopened at 8 p.m. The ramp connecting southbound State Route 163 with north I-5 was due to reopen Tuesday morning.
However, San Diego International Airport’s exit remained closed.
Traffic was backed up on many local freeways as a result of congestion on the freeway. This happened on the first day for the Thanksgiving holiday travel week.
At 7:07 p.m. on Sunday, the pipe near the freeway burst and caused rocks and debris to fall onto northbound lanes.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, an Uber driver claimed that water had smashed his windshield and caused injury to his passenger. Other cars were also struck by debris.
The condition of the injured passenger was not disclosed.
This was the second major water main break in downtown Manhattan within a few hours. The newspaper reported that a pipe burst close to the East Village neighborhood. It caused flooding of downtown streets and created a sinkhole, inundating at most one business.
Three hours later, water was turned off.
Arian Collins, spokesperson for city public utilities, stated that the first pipe to burst was a 24-inch (61 centimeter) transmission main made from reinforced concrete and steel. The second pipe burst was a 16 inch (41 centimeter) cast-iron pipe, which was approximately 75 years old.
