City staff say multiple watermain breaks in Hamilton likely due to extreme cold

Watermain breaks on Hamilton streets caused traffic delays across the city Thursday morning, which were likely caused by extremely cold temperatures.

In west Hamilton, a large break at Main and Macklin streets has caused extensive pooling and police have closed roads in the area. A number of other roads are closed, which are believed to be the result of water main breaks.

• Southbound Upper James Street is closed at Resolute Drive;
• Northbound Upper James Street at Hussar Avenue;
• Westbound Stone Church Road East at Ridgemont Drive;
• Eastbound Stone Church Road East at Distin Drive; and
• Stone Church Road and Upper Wentworth Street intersection closed in all directions. Hamilton police Const. Trevor McKenna says traffic is being diverted from that area and roads are expected to be closed for much of the day.
• Stone Church Road East and Hussar Avenue. Repairs are expected to be completed by approximately 5pm today.

While you might think aging infrastructure is the problem, the pipe that burst on Upper Wentworth at around 4 a.m., was only about 30 years old.

The problem right now is the extreme cold putting pressure on the pipes.

“A lot of watermain breaks through the month of January — 42 throughout the entire month,” said Dave Alberton, the manager of water distribution with the City of Hamilton. “As it gets colder and the frost goes into the ground we start to see more pressure on watermains, causing the watermain to break.”

Alberton says the age of the pipe had nothing to do with this morning’s issues.

“The watermain that we’re fixing now is 30 years old,” said Alberton. “At times watermains break, especially in the winter because of the frost and not because of the age of this one here.”

Area residents woke up to the street outside their homes flooded and water gushing from the ground.

“First thing this morning at about 6 o’clock, it looked like a little river on the road, and then it proceeded to crack the line in the roadway looked like a fountain coming out of the roadway,” said Shauna Jackson, a local resident.

“In the morning I got up and went outside at 8 o’clock, there was water all over, they were already on the job waiting to fix it,” said John Chioini, who lived near a broken pipeline. “There was a lot of water all over the sidewalk and driveway.”

Residents on the east side of Upper Wentworth had their water shut off for much of the day, while those on the west side still had running water.

“I went out and asked if they were gonna shut the water off — and then we stocked up on water and have bottled water,” said Chioini. “It happened before, it’s not the first time.”

Jackson says the watermain break forced her to miss work.

“I’m having a hard time thinking about going to work,” said Jackson. “I’ve already had to call in to my work, because both the entrances are pretty well blocked off and it’s kind of an inconvenience to get out to go to work.”

Jackson’s water wasn’t shut off, but she filled up jugs of water just to be safe.

The city confirmed the pipe has been fixed, and the road reopened at around 4 p.m.

The City of Hamilton said that if you see water on the street or notice low water pressure, it could be a water main break. Call 905-546-2489 to report.

This is not the first time there has been a water main break in this area. There was one in January 2024 and another this past October.

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