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East Independence Boulevard reopens after water main repair

By Mark Barber, Jim Bradley, and Elsa Gillis
By Mark Barber, Jim Bradley, and Elsa Gillis

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — UPDATE: All lanes are open on East Independence Boulevard outbound following a water main repair.

Drivers in east Charlotte dealt with a traffic headache in southeast Charlotte early Monday morning, as crews had to shut down parts of Independence Boulevard because of a major water main break.

IMAGES: Broken water main creates sinkhole on Independence Blvd.

The break happened around 1 a.m. in the outbound lanes between Wallace Road and East WT Harris Boulevard.

All three outbound lanes in the construction zone on Independence Boulevard were closed as crews worked to repair the water main.

By early Monday night, one lane was reopened.

Department of Transportation officials said the remaining lanes will not reopen until at least 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Charlotte Water officials on the scene told Channel 9 that they do not know what caused the break, but said about 100 feet of road was damaged.

From Chopper 9, a large sinkhole could be seen opening up in the pavement.

The 8-foot hole is in the right outbound lane of Independence Blvd, and other stretches of the road between Wallace Road and East WT Harris Blvd. are buckling or cracked.

BREAKING: Chopper 9 went back up over back to school traffic across the Charlotte area and also provided a birds-eye-view of a sinkhole that opened up on Independence Blvd.

Posted by WSOC-TV on Monday, August 29, 2016

Traffic was already going to be heavy Monday morning as students headed to class for the first day of school, and the busted water main and road closure only added to the headache for drivers.

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"Because of the huge numbers of people not being able to get here because of traffic being chaotic and crazy, we sent out a general message that students could be late,” said Charlotte United Christian Academy Director Hank Corcoran. “That was certainly acceptable because of the crazy traffic."

This is a live look at the traffic backup on Independence Boulevard where crews are working to repair a water main break that has closed the road.

Posted by Mark Barber WSOC on Monday, August 29, 2016

Water was restored to customers early Monday night.

Vehicles were being detoured from Wallace Road to Monroe Road.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this developing story.

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