Freeway Floods

Busted pipe causes traffic nightmare

Drivers on Interstate 805 were greeted by a soggy mess, right in the middle of the Wednesday morning commute.

A water main break just north of Home Avenue caused a large traffic backup, CalTrans spokeman Hayden Manning said. All lanes of the northbound freeway were almost at a standstill for a mile or so near the off-ramp to northbound Interstate 15.

"In that area we are doing some landscape construction.  We are taking out old landscaping, and installing new landscape.  We weren't actually working last night, it was a pipe that busted," Manning said.

Manning blames the break on old age. 

"It's kind of ironic that this old pipe was broken even though it was scheduled to be replaced in the next four months," he said. 

It was an inconvenience for drivers, but Manning said no lanes were shut down and there were no accidents as a result of the break.  The California Highway Patrol said the incident began at about 5 a.m.  The water was shut off about 6:30 a.m.

The broken pipe was old and scheduled to be replaced within four months, said Manning.

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