UPDATE: Common Street Water Main Break Repair to Last Into the Night

A 12-inch town water main broke at the corner of Common Street and Chester Road just after 11 a.m. causing a torrid of water to spring out of the ground and heading down neighborhood streets as far away as School Street and beyond.

The escaping water buckled the roadway resulting in Common Street being closed from Bay State/Warwick roads to the intersection of Payson/Palfrey roads just a block from Cushing Square. All traffic is being detoured along side streets. 

During the break and repair, water service will be limited in the neighboring area. Homeowners can expect water to be briefly cut off during the actual repairs. 

The break comes at an inconvenient time at the end of the summer vacation season, the first day of school in Belmont and the beginning of Rosh Hashanah.

According to Michael Santoro, head of the Highway Division of the Department of Public Works, repairs will most likely take the rest of the day and possibly into the night.

While repairing the pipe will be straight forward – cutting out the broken section and replacing it – restoring the road to a safe condition will likely take "some time," Santoro told Belmont Patch as he supervised a dozen workers who were beginning to cut into the roadway and create temporary dams along Common Street.