Downtown Traffic, Transit Disrupted As Water Main Break Response Continues

By Staff Reporter
Posted on 07/09/19 | News Source: WBAL

A water main break below the Howard Street tunnel Monday caused chaos for commuters by road and rail, halted freight and even led to a partial train derailment. Three workers have been hurt while trying to fix the break.

On Monday morning, water covered freight rail tracks near M&T Bank Stadium and the area around a stadium loading dock. The 12-inch main broke somewhere in the area of Pratt and Howard or Pratt and Camden streets, a city public works spokesman said.

Howard Street is closed between Conway and Lombard streets, and Pratt Street is closed between Paca and Sharp streets.

Fire officials and crews from the Office of the Emergency Management and the Maryland Transit Administration responded Monday morning to assist with removing the 4 to 5 feet of water, WBAL-TV 11 reports. Emergency management officials first had to determine whether the rain was to blame for the flooding. Once it was determined the source was a water main, they had to determine the source.

The water caused a partial derailment, fire department spokeswoman Blair Adams said. Officials said the train was partially off the tracks as a result of the water main break. All of the train cars were removed except for the locomotive as of noon.

Both CSX and MARC trains are halted through the area until the situation is resolved. Camden Line service will end at Dorsey Station. A bus will travel between Dorsey and Camden Yards every 30 minutes. Alternately, Baltimore-bound passengers can use the Penn Line to get to Penn Station.

Light Rail service is halted between North Avenue and Camden Yards.

The response briefly became a rescue operation after someone working on the water main response fell down an open manhole.

Two more workers were injured when an underground fire broke out beneath the Convention Center Light Rail station. The fire was related to a collapse in an underground electrival vault. One worker was seriously injured, while a second suffered from smoke inhalation. It's not clear if the collapse is related to the water main break.

Rachelina Bonacci, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Stadium Authority, said nothing inside the stadium was damaged by flooding and that all stadium events are expected to go on as scheduled.