PORTLAND — A water main that burst and sent debris flying early this morning affected traffic along Washington Avenue.
Police officers investigating excessive water near East Kidder Street heard a rumbling shortly after midnight Saturday and backed away from a leaking 12-inch underground pipe.
“They could sense something was not going well,” said Lt. Jim Sweatt of the Portland Police Department. “They got back a little bit and, boom, it was almost like looking at a fire hydrant exploding. There was a 40-foot stream of water shooting up in the air. It looked like Old Faithful.”
Officers closed the road for a short while. Inbound traffic on Washington between Ocean Avenue and Presumpscott Street was diverted through Payson Park until about 1:30 p.m. Outbound traffic was down to one lane.
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