Updated Wednesday – A large water main break Tuesday afternoon resulted in flooding at the intersection of Rockville Pike and Cedar Lane in Bethesda, causing a traffic nightmare on the heavily traveled road and throughout downtown Bethesda.
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) announced at noon Wednesday the main had been repaired and water service restored to about 250 customers who were without it since Tuesday.
The break in the 16-inch, 74-year-old cast iron pipe happened around 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to WSSC. The utility set up a water station for those customers at the Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart.
The school was also without water service and scheduled to open two hours late Wednesday.
The road was completely shut down into the Tuesday evening rush hour, with crews on the scene eventually opening one lane in each direction. By 7:10 p.m., one northbound lane and two southbound lanes were open. Intermittent lane closures continued around the intersection through the Wednesday morning rush hour.
Metro buses on the J2 and J3 routes had to skip the Medical Center Metro station. Ride On put in place a number of service adjustments and both bus systems warned riders of long delays.
Authorities have again asked commuters to consider alternate routes such as Connecticut Avenue and Old Georgetown Road during the Wednesday afternoon rush hour period. On Tuesday, the closure caused bumper-to-bumper traffic on many roads in downtown Bethesda.
WSSC announced late Tuesday night that crews located the break on southbound Rockville Pike about 150 yards north of Cedar Lane, an intersection that has been the site of almost constant construction and utility work for the past two years.
This post will be updated.
The repaired water main under Rockville Pike, via WSSC
The broken section of pipe after it was removed from under Rockville Pike Wednesday morning, via WSSC
WSSC employees worked on repairing the water main throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, via WSSC
WSSC workers try to isolate the water main break Tuesday on southbound Rockville Pike near the intersection with Cedar Lane, via WSSC
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WSSC crews locate the break late Tuesday night in the southbound lanes of Rockville Pike about 150 feet north of Cedar Lane, via WSSC
