Crowchild Trail water main break causes traffic delays
A serious water main break late Saturday night in the city's southwest has shut down a section of Crowchild Trail, and it's still not clear when the major artery will fully open to traffic again.
The city says all southbound traffic on Crowchild Trail is being diverted at the 33rd Avenue S.W. exit, but northbound lanes have reopened.
Calgary Transit says Routes 20, 108, 112 are being detoured around the area.
Ward 8 Ald. John Mar says it's still unclear how long repairs will take, but the city was hoping to address the issue at an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon.
"There are some homes that will have no water as a result of the turning off the water situation," he said. " We are uncertain as to whether or not Crowchild will be ready for tomorrow morning."
The city plans to give an update on the situation at 4:30 p.m. MT Sunday.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Monday's commute on southbound Crowchild will be bad regardless.
"Leave lots of extra time, avoid unnecessary travel," he tweeted.
According to the city, there have been three unrelated water events near Crowchild Trail: a blocked sanitary main near Glenmore Trail that has been fixed, a water main break in Marda Loop at 19th Street and 28th Avenue S.W. and the rupture on Crowchild Trail.
CBC reporter Meghan Grant was told by residents of Marda Loop that roughly 40 homes in the area have been without water all day. The city says it plans to make repairs Monday morning.
Calgary police were called to the scene near Flanders Avenue and Crowchild Trail at around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday night.
They got to the area only to find southbound Crowchild Trail flooded, as water was flowing freely down the road.
By midnight, Calgary police reported the water to be about 30 centimetres deep in some areas.
There were also concerns that the cold temperatures would lead to freezing.
City water crews are working to repair the rupture and are digging near the source to figure out what went wrong.
The same area of road also had to be repaired in April 2011 for a water main break.
