Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Broken water main disrupts Walnut St.

A water-main break Saturday disrupted the dinner hour and retailers on bustling Walnut Street, one of the toniest shopping districts in the city, during the height of the holiday season.

A water main break occured at 16th and Walnut at approximately 4pm Saturday closing the blocks between 16th and 17th with almost a foot of water. ( RYAN S. GREENBERG / Staff Photographer )
A water main break occured at 16th and Walnut at approximately 4pm Saturday closing the blocks between 16th and 17th with almost a foot of water. ( RYAN S. GREENBERG / Staff Photographer )Read more

A water-main break Saturday disrupted the dinner hour and retailers on bustling Walnut Street, one of the toniest shopping districts in the city, during the height of the holiday season.

The main shopping district near Rittenhouse Square was flooded late Saturday afternoon when a break in a 12-inch main sent water gushing up through several large fissures in the middle of the 1600 block of Walnut.

Asphalt was pushed up in front of the busy Apple store at 1607 Walnut, and most of that block was under as much as eight inches of water, sending streams down other blocks in all directions.

A sales representative at the Apple store who answered the phone said: "We are closed due to an unforeseen event. Unfortunately, there is a water-line break, so the police have shut down Walnut Street."

Laura Copeland, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Water Department, said a city crew shut down the main about 9:30 p.m., leaving 20 to 25 residential and commercial customers without water.

She said the crew would work through the night to repair the main and restore service.

Roads were closed between Locust and Chancellor on 16th Street, and on Walnut Street between 15th and 17th Streets, Copeland said.

A Starbucks employee at 16th and Walnut said the store was closed and would not reopen until morning.

"We are just waiting to hear back from police and the water company. Everything is blocked off; no one can walk in." Water continued to flow in the streets at 6:30 p.m. "We are technically still open, but just no customers," the worker said.

"We're closing up, cleaning up," said James Reynolds, general manager of Qdoba Mexican Grill at 1528 Walnut, shortly before 7 p.m. "We're open, but you can't get to us. The water has been shut off, but we have some in the pipes."

At the swank Le Bec-Fin restaurant, Shannon Corin, private events coordinator, said: "We've had some guests who have had difficulty getting to us, but we are open and serving dinner. We have a wedding reception going on right now in our private dining room, and some very happy diners throughout the restaurant."

She said police were letting people through. "The sidewalks are still open." Le Bec-Fin still had water. "We are able to wash our dishes."

at 215-854-2831 or lloyd@phillynews.com.