Traffic impacted as city crews repair water main break on Oxford Street at Talbot

City officials recommended drivers avoid a section of Oxford Street near the downtown core following a water main break.

Crews were notified at around 10:30 p.m. Monday that the 12-inch water main at Oxford and Talbot streets broke, washing out the majority of the traffic lanes in the area.

“The water main was repaired at around 5 a.m. (Tuesday) and we’ve been in the process of getting the road prepped,” Steve Fazekas, supervisor of water operations with the city, told 980 CFPL Tuesday morning.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The water main was repaired at around 5 a.m. (Tuesday) and we've been in the process of getting the road prepped," Steve Fazekas, supervisor of water operations with the city, told 980 CFPL Tuesday morning.

One westbound lane of traffic on Oxford at Talbot was opened at around 10 a.m., while two lanes remained closed for another seven hours.

Traffic finally returned to normal around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

While drivers may have been frustrated by the delays, Fazekas said these types of breaks can happen anytime.

“This particular pipe is from 1957 so it’s a fairly old pipe,” he said. “Age is a big factor. Water temperature is a big factor. When the lakes turn and the temperature starts to drop close to zero, then you get expansion and contraction in the pipe itself and the old pipe tends to fail.”

He noted the number of water main breaks is down.

“We’ve been fairly mild, our breaks are down,” Fazekas said. “We’ve had a very good program on renewing the old water mains. In the past 20 years, we’ve eliminated a lot of trouble areas, but obviously there’s still a lot of old water mains in the city.”

– with files from Global News Radio 980 CFPL’s Jacquelyn LeBel.