Streets Still Closed As Crews Fix Water Main, Fill Sinkhole Downtown
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — It's been a solid week of construction and excavation in downtown Baltimore after a 12-inch water main break and a busted storm drain caused issues on streets downtown.
Tack on a separate incident, the ground around a manhole collapsed, trapping a worker underground.
"Used to take me like 30 minutes to get here, now I'm looking at 40 minutes or an hour." said commuter William Gaskins.
City officials closed the area to drivers while it investigates the cause of the underground collapse and its relationship to the water main break.
"It's definitely a huge change that I now have to adjust my life to try to get to work on time." Gaskins said.
A water main leak is affecting Howard and Baltimore Streets. Nearby at Howard and Pratt, they're filling the sinkhole.
The MTA has been forced to stop Light-Rail service between the North Avenue and Camden Yards stations.
For downtown businesses like Pratt Street Ale House, it's been hard to get people to come downtown.
"I think it's been a headache for anyone trying to get downtown, a lot of our employees have been affected by the commute and managers as well."
The Office of Emergency Management said right now, engineers are coming in to supervise the excavation, and crews are proactively looking for any other leaks that exist in the area.
The reason is largely a stormwater diversion system, which is moving water away from the construction site. The bypass cannot be physically removed until the storm drain is completely fixed.
So commuters said they're trying to get creative.
"The good part is that they have the lime scooters and if you're lucky enough to grab one, you might be able to cut your time in half," Gaskins said.
OEM met with DPW and engineers Monday afternoon. While they hope to open at least a couple of lanes soon, it could be a few weeks before the repairs are complete.
