A 119-year-old water line ruptured late this morning in the 900 block of Massachusetts, causing restaurants in the area to close for the afternoon.

“With the cold weather and the aging pipes, we think it just burst,” said David Osborne, a project manager for city of Lawrence utility department. “The piping is from 1886 and it’s one of the oldest lines in town.”

City utility department employees worked to repair the broken water line this afternoon on Massachusetts Street.

The water line burst about 11 a.m. and 2 to 3 inches of water flooded the road. The surging water caused portions of the street to buckle making it unsafe for vehicles. A drop in water pressure also caused the automatic fire alarm in the U.S. Bank building to go off.

To fix the break, utility crews had to shut off water along the block and dig up part of the street. Water wasn’t expected to be restored until midnight. The street remained closed Friday.

“The goal is to get one-way traffic on there by Saturday and then repair the road on Monday,” said City Manager Mike Wildgen.

With the cold weather, road repairs must wait until Monday when the weather will be slightly warmer and drier, he said.

“We’re doing what we can to fix the original problem and get the road back into usable shape, but it probably won’t be a final fix because we’ll need warmer weather,” Wildgen said.

City utiltiy department employees dig this afternoon into Massachusetts Street to repair the broken water line.

With no water between Ninth and 10th streets along Massachusetts, restaurants in the block were forced to close for the lunch rush.

Most managers said they were hopeful water would be restored for dinner — especially since they do good business on Fridays.

“Most people understand that it’s beyond our control and there’s nothing we can do about it,” Matt Easley, area manager for Chipotle, said. Easley’s employees put up signs informing people to go to the Chipotle store on the west side of town. But other eating establishments, such as Mad Greek, Milton’s and Mass Street Deli, didn’t have that luxury. Those that closed for the rest of the day were
the Red Lyon, Mass Street Deli and Mad Greek.

Three eateries, Qdoba, the Replay Lounge and the Jackpot Saloon, will all be open tonight because they get their water from another line.

Richard Jaimez, with the city utilities department, trys to close a water line after a water main break downtown.

Other businesses remained open with few problems. Crafty employee Malindi Alexander said the craft store didn’t have any workshops scheduled Friday and wouldn’t have a problem staying open. But she said she had to use a pitcher of water to wash her hands.

“You just don’t think about how much you use something until it’s gone,” said Chris Deman, owner of Crafty. “But we’ll be fine. I just feel bad for the restaurants.”

Wildgen said was unfortunate the break happened downtown on a heavily traveled road.

“But it does happen,” he said.

There were no estimates how much the repairs will cost, he said. City workers will be paid some overtime, but no outside contractors will be hired for the repairs, Wildgen said.

Workers dredge into the street to repair a broken water line.

Lawrence City Commissioner David Dunfield was in the area while crews worked. He said the city is in the midst of a multi-year program to replace aging infrastructure.

“People have experienced some inconvenience because of it,” Dunfield said of the infrastructure repairs. “There’s obviously a need.”

Wildgen said the line that broke was scheduled to be repaired in about three years.

For more on this story, see the 6News television reports at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunflower Broadband’s channel 6 and pick up a copy of Saturday’s Journal-World.