At a little past 10 a.m., a water main break on York Road in Hunt Valley caused the closing of all lanes of traffic between Shawan and Ashland Roads. Responders are on the scene.
Shantaé Felix at the Maryland Department of Transportation recommended that businesses and residents in the affected area go to Maryland 511 via the MDOT website for the most current information about road closures. The link directs users to MDOT’s CHARTWeb page, where they can scroll to see “Traffic Incidents and Events.” The data refreshes every 90 seconds.
Ron Snyder, spokesperson for the Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW), told Baltimore Fishbowl that the Baltimore City DPW is on the scene working to shut down the water. Baltimore County handles the construction and installation of the water mains. Once installed, the maintenance and repairs fall under the purview of Baltimore City.
“It’s a 36-inch water main,” Snyder said. “Once they get the water shut, then they’ll be able to see the extent of the damage and figure out what needs to be done. So that’s the first priority for that crew.”
Trey English works at the Brooks-Huff Goodyear Tire and Auto Center at the intersection of York and Ashland Roads. He noticed water spilling out around 10 a.m.
“I noticed brown, brown water going down our parking lot,” English told Baltimore Fishbowl. “I looked outside. You could actually see York Road bubbling almost like a volcano. And cars were still trying to go around it, and now we have a giant sinkhole in the middle of York Road and dozens of small businesses that are going to be affected for a long time.”
English estimated the sinkhole was around 20 feet wide in all directions, located in the center lane. Snyder confirmed the presence of the sinkhole but declined to estimate its size, the extent of needed repairs, or how long the process would take.
“I never like to give a timeline, because, again, right now, until the water gets shut off, you know, I’m not the expert, the contractors are,” Snyder said. “They’ll be the ones that are able to tell us, once they get the water shut off, how long it’ll take to get the repairs, trying to get the water back on.”
Once Baltimore City DPW contractors assess the damage, they will determine how long repairs will take.
As for English’s shop, he still has water – for now.
“So far, they haven’t cut the water off, so we still have some, and we’re just basically trying to finish up our existing customers, so they have a car for the weekend,” English said.
