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Water Main Breaks Causing Freeway Closures Near Balboa Park

Traffic moves along the I-5 in San Diego on Aug. 31, 2006. (Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

SAN DIEGO鈥擜聽stretch of Interstate 5 (I-5) and several freeway聽connector ramps in the bustling downtown area were closed to through traffic on Nov. 22, as a result of water-main breaks in the East Village and聽the south end of Balboa Park over the weekend.

first of the two pipeline failures began flooding traffic lanes at聽A Street and Eleventh Avenue about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, city officials reported.

By 6:45 p.m., when repair workers got the overflow halted, the surging water聽had created a sinkhole and inundated at least one business.

About 3.5 hours after the first round of flooding began, an Uber聽driver reported that a geyser of water had burst through his windshield and a聽passenger window, injuring a customer, on an offramp of State Route 163 (SR-163) near I-5, the聽California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported. It took crews roughly six hours to get the聽flow of water under control.

extent of the Uber rider’s injuries was unclear.

As of Monday afternoon, the northbound side of I-5 was still closed聽between Hawthorne Street and Sixth Avenue, with traffic being detoured onto the聽latter street and northbound SR-163. Also, the聽connectors from southbound SR-163 to northbound I-5 and Fourth Avenue, as well聽as the northbound SR-163 ramp to northbound I-5, remained blocked off, the CHP advised.

Authorities said they hoped to have all the affected stretches of聽roadway open again by early evening.

Pezou : Water Main Breaks Causing Freeway Closures Near Balboa Park