The City of Ottawa says a broken watermain, that flooded streets in Centretown, is right below a gas main, and is being repaired.
The watermain break just before 6:00 a.m. Tuesday caused a sinkhole to open up on O'Connor St. near Gloucester St.
Flooding has since subsided, but O’Connor remains closed between Gloucester and Lisgar; as of Wednesday morning, the City say Nepean St is closed at O’Connor, converted to two-way traffic between Bank St. and O’Connor St., and O’Connor St. and Metcalfe St.
City crews said late Tuesday that the area would remain closed until late Wednesday.
Police say the closures apply to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic for safety reasons.
Early on Tuesday, Carol Hall, the City's Manager of Water Distribution said in a statement, "Crews are on site preparing to excavate for the repair. The break is directly below a gas main. Enbridge will be isolating the gas main before the repair starts. An asphalt crew will be on site immediately following the watermain repair to reinstate the roadway.”
Video shared on Twitter when the break happened showed water pouring onto O'Connor, flooding the street.
Situation is definitely not under control yet.. #ottnews #ottawa #downtownflood pic.twitter.com/lytb1cUn3R
— kat (@kkkat222) June 5, 2018
A broken water main on O'Connor Street causes flooding on Nepean Street, June 5, 2018 (James O'Grady / CTV Ottawa)