A 5 a.m. water main break impacted some of Victoria’s busiest streets Thursday morning.
The break closed Blanshard Street south of Hillside Avenue and north of Caledonia Avenue. Bay Street was also closed at Quadra and Douglas streets.
A few hours later, traffic was flowing through Blanshard and Bay Street was down to single lanes both directions. City of Victoria crews remain on scene working to repair the break.
Brian Murphy, City of Victoria’s assistant of public works, says the 30-centimetre water main is one of many pieces of aging infrastructure in the city.
“Water main breaks do happen and this one just happened to be on a main street,” he said. “Currently the main is isolated and construction crews have begun the process of repairs. We’ll hopefully be back into final restoration of the road by tomorrow.”
Murphy said there may have been some damage to the underground parking area of a nearby apartment building.
Jan. 16, 7:50am. Icy patches around Greater Victoria, including Interurban, are creating slippery sections on roads & sidewalks. Please be cautious when walking & leave lots of time when travelling. @Camosun staff are working hard to maintain campuses. pic.twitter.com/3fM34tnffK
— Camosun College (@Camosun) January 16, 2020
This summer the federal government committed $15.3 million for infrastructure upgrades to Victoria’s aging underground pipes and structures. The funding supplements the City’s existing yearly infrastructure investments for pipe replacement.
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