A portion of Boylston Street flooded with ankle-deep water after a water main broke near the Boston Public Garden Friday afternoon.
The Boston Water and Sewer Commission confirmed the break near 364 Boylston Street, between Arlington and Berkeley streets. The stretch of road was blocked off by police cruisers as crews cleaned up the area.
The break impacted traffic and routines for workers and shoppers alike.
“We noticed that there was a bunch of water coming out of the ground, and slowly the pavement just started getting higher and higher, and now the streets are blocked off,” said Hannah Farley, who works on Boylston Street.
A 12-inch water main burst, which crews said was apparently due to the cold temperatures.
The Arlington MBTA station suffered some damage, as some of the water seeped in through a maintenance room ceiling and flooded the floor. T employees worked to clean up the mess.
Some nearby office workers said they were headed home early as Boston Water and Sewer employees shut off water in the area.
“Wow, this is pretty stunning. It’s flooding,” said Feng Gee, who had no running water in his office. “It’s worse than the day before — the rain day.”
Once the water receded Friday afternoon, the damage became evident. Mud was caked on the pavement.
Buckling pavement and a cavernous hole filled with stagnant water could be seen in the middle of Boylston. Crews said the hole was about 5 to 6 feet deep.
“The funny thing about Boston is people just keep on going with their daily lives. Delivery men are driving on motorcycles through the water, as seen right now, yeah, people are just kind of acting like nothing’s happening,” said Sam Lawrence, a sophomore at Emerson College.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
