Lanes closed as work continues on Roosevelt Boulevard

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- More lane closures are in effect on the Roosevelt Boulevard as work continues to fix a broken water main.

Two northbound inner lanes and one southbound inner lane were shut down around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

They're expected to remain closed through much of the day.

The break was reported at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday on the Boulevard near Grant Avenue.

John Di Guilio from the Philadelphia Water Department says, "It's a 16 inch main. It's a transmission main, and we did not experience any customer complaints for low pressure or loss of service. So, there was no impact to customers."

Chopper 6 HD was overhead as thousands of gallons of water gushed from a main break.

"One of our employees noticed water on the roadway, called it into the system," Di Guilio said.

By then the section of the Boulevard had become a river of muddy water that started freezing.

Police blocked traffic on all 12 lanes of one of the busiest roadways in the Delaware Valley.

Traffic came to a standstill and quickly clogged side roads as drivers looked for escape routes.

The culprit - a blown out transmission line.

"It's a blowout on a 16 inch main. That indicates what kind of repair we have to make. Cut the pipe out and replace it with a new main," Di Guilio said.