Heavy Rains Cause Brooklyn Park Water Main Break
Heavy rains this week closed a busy Brooklyn Park road and caused a big problem for a number of local residents.
Crews were hard at work on Xerxes Avenue near Brookdale Drive for much of Thursday and Friday repairing a big hole that formed right in the middle of the road.
Brooklyn Park officials say the hole formed as a result of a water main break. The heavy rain on Thursday became too much for the water main to handle, and the road collapsed in the process.
Unfortunately, someone found that out the hard way on Thursday when they tried to drive through the area, only to have the front end of their car swallowed up by Xerxes Avenue.
The city says that incident happened because the driver ignored the barricades blocking the Water Main Break.
“The road was completely shut down, and I think people don’t realize we’re doing that for safety,” said Camille Hepola, Brooklyn Park’s communications manager. “And in this case there was a car that went around the barricades, onto a sidewalk, and then had this incident happen. Nobody was hurt, everyone was fine, but I think it’s just a very good reminder that when you see these barricades, it’s for your safety and to not go around them.”
Some nearby residents did lose water on Thursday, but Hepola says their water was restored by Friday.
Meanwhile, traffic on Xerxes had been re-routed to 85th and Noble, but the city took down the barricades on Friday at 2 p.m.
