Half of Mt. Lebanon's Washington Road business district was left dry Tuesday when a water main broke.
The outages began between 10:30 and 11 a.m. after a 12-inch pipe broke near the intersection of Washington Road and Castle Shannon Boulevard, said Mt. Lebanon Emergency Management Coordinator Chris Buttlar.
Between 15 and 20 businesses on the east side of Washington Road were affected. The pipe was expected to be fixed by 10 p.m. last night, said Josephine Posti, spokeswoman for Pennsylvania-American Water Co. Businesses and residences on the west side of the road were unaffected.
There were no classes at nearby Washington Elementary because of a previously scheduled training day for teachers, but the Mt. Lebanon Library closed at 3 p.m., Posti said.
Businesses brought in bottled water or considered closing early because of the outage. Mineo's Pizza House was open to carry-out customers and used bottled water to wash dishes, but manager Brian Scheeser said he wasn't sure if he would stay open for dinner.
The fire department brought in a tanker truck from North Strabane to provide water in case fire broke out in an area without working hydrants, Buttlar said.
The repair work on the water line took place at the same time as a project to replace a natural gas line along Washington Road between Lebanon Avenue and Shady Drive. Drivers were urged to find an alternate route home from work at rush hour.
