Winnipeg water main break on Main Street remains under investigation

Remnants of a massive water main break that frustrated drivers Friday remains on Main Street Monday. Jon Hendricks reports.

The City of Winnipeg said it still doesn’t know exactly how a crew managed to break a water main on Main Street last week.

On Friday afternoon, a water main break closed both directions of Main Street between Seaforth Avenue and Chief Peguis Trail. The flooding resulted in major traffic delays, with the city warning that it could result in discoloured water for some residents.

Three days after the incident, one lane of traffic remained closed with piles of ice on the road—an unwelcome reminder for some of the crazy commute home Friday.

“It’s a feeder main. So that feeder main is a very wide pipe. So, the water filled up the road really fast,” said Councillor Ross Eadie, chair of Winnipeg’s Water, Waste and Environment Committee.

Jacqueline Stortz and many others on the road drove right through the rapidly rising water on Friday, but her aunt’s van didn’t make it to the other side.

“My auntie’s vehicle ended up dying in the water, so we’re basically stuck. We couldn’t go anywhere,” Stortz said.

After a call to 911, they were eventually rescued. And while sitting in the ambulance, they met another person whose vehicle was also disabled by the water.

“He said that his vehicle started filling up with water, and he had to jump out of his car,” Stortz recalled.

After an hour and a half, city crews closed Main Street in both directions, and that put a big dent in businesses such as The Kildonan, a restaurant and beer vendor on the street.

“Friday afternoon is the busiest day of the week, and evening is the busiest time of the day. So, you know, we have to shut it down… There are no sales,” said Kam Khaira, owner of the Kildonan. “Almost all night is a dead night for us.”

Eadie said he knows the city’s response to the water main break is being criticized but added that crews worked as fast as they could to fix the problem.

“It does take a while to close off all the streets, because you have all this traffic and barricades have to be put up,” Eadie said.

A spokesperson for the city told CTV News that it is still investigating the incident.

It added that impacted businesses can contact 311 to file a claim for the lost business, which it said will be investigated.

Manitoba Public Insurance told CTV News that as of Dec. 14, there have been 19 claims for physical damage in the wake of the water main break.