Journal Staff report
Traffic heading east on Main Street near Harrison Street continues to funnel down to one lane with concrete barricades set up after a water pipe ruptured last week.
The water break that happened on Friday in front of the Super 8 Motel near Harrison and Main streets will have to be repaired before the barricades are removed.
Don Cornett, the lead operator of the repair project for the city, said the city isn't completely certain what caused the water pipe to break.
Cornett said the speculation is the recent cold weather caused frost to form near the water pipes that caused the bolts to the pipe to rust.
He also said the repair project is not a simple one that can be fixed quickly.
On Friday, Cornett said about 12 inches of concrete had to be cut, and the difficulty was to cut the asphalt without causing any further damage to the pipe.
The repair of the pipe has had a large impact on at least one business in close proximity to the break.
Maria Maez, the manager of Cork & Bottle liquor store, said the business has been at a standstill the last few days because the barricades the city put up makes it extremely tough to visit the store.
The water pipe break has forced the complete access closure to Harrison Street off Main as well as convenient access to the store's parking area. She said the store's regular customers are still finding a way to get to the liquor store, but added the only way to get to the market is to come through the alley that is located in the back of the business.
"It has been a pretty quiet weekend for us," she said Monday. "We have no idea when it will be done."
