No, you’re not suffering from deja vu — there’s actually been another slew of water main breaks interrupting commuters, diverting traffic, and shutting off water to city residents. After last week’s rupture at Charles Street and North Avenue disrupted commuters, we thought that maybe the city would catch a break (no pun intended) for at least a week. But no: this morning, Mount Vernon residents were greeted by a flooded Guilford Avenue, and this afternoon Essex Community College had to cancel classes after a pipe broke on the eastern edge of the city.
Today’s issues shone a spotlight on how water main breaks are more than just annoying and costly: the Mount Vernon rupture cut off water to Mercy Hospital and disrupted the lunch that Our Daily Bread serves to hundreds of indigent people. Workers are still toiling to replace last week’s break, and now have to deal with digging up, inspecting, and replacing the Madison Street line.
There’s no denying that Baltimore’s infrastructure is decaying. Maybe the mayor should implement a city-wide gambling scheme to raise funds for repairs: bet on where the next water main break will be and win big! It’s either that, or tax the bronies.
