A water main break along an Interstate 35E service road caused a huge traffic headache Wednesday evening, stranding drivers for hours.
Dallas Water Utilities experienced a failure on a 36-inch diameter water pipe in the 2700-block of North Stemmons Freeway at about 5 p.m.
Within seconds, the line started spewing water onto the northbound service road, quickly covering the roadway in several feet of water.
Crews were forced to shut down the service road from Medical District Drive to Inwood Road.
The water got so deep it stranded several cars, including a firetruck.
"I mean, it's flooded," Francesca Pineda said. "I can't get out. I can't go over the curb. Management's telling me I can't go through the building -- nothing or whatever, so I'm pretty much stuck."
"I want to go home, but I don't know which way out," Oleg Shtere said. "I can't get out from here. Everything all around is just water."
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As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, crews had the line 85 percent shut off.
On Thursday morning, city officials said the roadway was covered with between 8 inches and 14 inches of mud and remains closed to traffic. DWU hopes to have at least one lane open to traffic by noon Thursday.
DWU has not yet been able to assess the pipeline to determine the cause of the break or determine what needs to be done to repair the line.
