Water main break on South Industrial causes 'waterfall' on Ann Arbor street
A water main break at the intersection of Rosewood Street and South Industrial Highway in Ann Arbor caused significant street flooding Wednesday afternoon.
Water main break at Rosewood and South Industrial in Ann Arbor
Photo by Jessica Hunt
City of Ann Arbor spokeswoman Lisa Wondrash said the flooding was caused by a broken hydrant branch. She said four businesses are without running water, but crews are working at the site and it should be restored within a few hours.
Hunt said the break caused a “crazy” outpouring of water outside RoosRoast and closed Rosewood Street at the South Industrial intersection.
“I was driving into work — I was coming from Industrial turning onto Rosewood — and it was flooded but I didn’t know why,” she said. “The water pipes underneath the road had exploded and there was a waterfall.”
She continued: “The pipes were coming out of the road and the road was lifted up…it was crazy.”
She said RoosRoast is still open — without running water — and employees are boiling bottled water for pour-over coffee.
At the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop, located a block south on South Industrial Highway, volunteer Paulette Brown said the store has not experienced a disruption in service.
“Water is running with full force, it’s not sputtering or anything, and no one has come in to tell us to be concerned or to not use the facilities,” she said.
Further details on the break were not immediately available from the City of Ann Arbor.
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.
Comments
Major
Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:59 p.m.
John Roos is lucky he didn't become the story...."man disappears in sinkhole". Clever promotion though, I must now try some RoosRoast coffee....
brimble
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 11:58 p.m.
Good humor and John Roos notwithstanding, we have a real problem in Ann Arbor -- our water system is not in great repair. We don't notice the problem until it literally pops up. The City employees will patch and band-aid this again, but make no mistake, the system as a whole needs significant update and repair work. The expense will make the $65m for the library look like, well, a drop in the bucket.
whatsupwithMI
Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:51 a.m.
Nah, no expense. The difference is: infrastructure will not be update, just patched. Updating things in a forward-looking manner is Socialism. Per Michigan, at least.
Wolf's Bane
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 9:54 p.m.
Moses split the sidewalk.
Brad
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 9:28 p.m.
No electricity last week, no water this week. Roos Roast - did you PO the utility god or something?
timjbd
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 9:26 p.m.
Too bad this didn't happen closer to the new underground parking structure. In this weather, people need a place to swim more than a place to park.
nickcarraweigh
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 9:05 p.m.
Folks, you'd be whistling out of the other side of your percolators if this happened in January.
Goober
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 9:03 p.m.
Oh my! Water everywhere, except on my lawn.
Tru2Blu76
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 8:56 p.m.
Catastrophic grass fires ( 1 acre of grass & weeds consumed, lol!) one day, water deluge the next day: this could be just a strategy to keep up reader interest, (aka, attract eyeballs). Is it a pre-deluvian world or post-deluvian world? We have to know before the ark-building season ends. And does anybody know if Fingerle will be carrying gopher wood lumber? ;-)
David Cahill
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 8:44 p.m.
A great video! Jessica Hunt has a future in journalism.
John Roos
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 8:31 p.m.
@craig lounsbury clearly you haven't met john roos and gotten to know his sense of humor yet! :)
Craig Lounsbury
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 8:18 p.m.
according to the Water Footprint Network the coffee "industry" from the plantation to the cup in my house uses "110 billion cubic metres of water per year in order to be able to drink coffee." In that perspective a small water main break leaking for a few hours is trite. So I find his "concern" about water issues in the third world a bit disingenuous, yet ever so "Ann Arbor". http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/CoffeeTea
Liz
Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:41 a.m.
He was just being silly. Try it sometime.
DJBudSonic
Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 12:13 a.m.
Seriously, Craig, you need to relax.
say it plain
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 9:47 p.m.
Oh, lordie, PLEASE don't tell me I should feel guilty about my love for the morning cuppa joe, YIKES! I will look it up now that you've mentioned it, sigh, but couldn't I enjoy one.bloody.sorta-maybe-exploitative-of-the-earth-but-not-too-bad activity?! Coffee's been getting such good press lately, from the health researchers anyhow. darn.
LatersBaby
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 8:16 p.m.
Funniest part of the video, when he realizes he needs to get back to the side of the road but there is no easy way! Hope it gets cleared up soon although I am sure the grass nearby is enjoying the H20!
molly
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 8:11 p.m.
RoosRoast coffee is *awesome*!