Water main break creates mess on McKnight Road
ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- McKnight Road, a major North Hills artery, had traffic restrictions for most of Tuesday.
According to the West View Water Authority, the road reopened around 3:15 Tuesday afternoon.
McKnight Road turned into McKnightmare Road Tuesday morning. Drivers saw brake lights near Houston Road and had to merge from three lanes down to one.
"It is, 100% is," Paytin Shipe with Keepin' It Glassy said.
A water main break started at 4 in the morning. Portions of McKnight were closed during the morning rush with one lane opening later.
The West View Water Authority said about two dozen businesses were without water. Nearby homes were not impacted by the break. Some stores and restaurants never opened and had empty parking lots. Others were still open but had to work around the situation.
"I was like, 'oh my gosh, what are sales going to be like today and are customers going to be upset?'" Shipe said.
Keepin' It Glassy stayed open and saw some mixed results for customers. Some stayed away while other drivers stuck in traffic stopped in. Crews were outside their business for much of the morning.
"It's been slower. No water. That's unfortunate," Shipe said.
Face Lab Salon and Spa is just a parking lot over. They had the challenge of asking clients to park a few parking lots over. There was no way to get into the parking lot with crews working right out front.
"They're having to walk up and down McKnight Road to get into the salon, which is kind of dangerous, so that's been troublesome today," Kelly Doerr with Face Lab Salon and Spa said.
Even though the break was right in front of the store, it still had water.
"Thankfully or I wouldn't be open," Doerr said.
As for what caused the 16-inch main to break, the water authority said it could be a number of reasons.