Road closed after watermain break floods Stoney Creek intersection

A number of water main breaks wreaked havoc on Hamilton’s roads Tuesday, the largest of which caused flooding and road closures in Stoney Creek.

Police shut down several city blocks around Grays Road and Barton Street, after a water main broke overnight.

Work at that break is ongoing and is expected to continue for several days after it led to a large hole in the middle of the road.

With roads closed, people were avoiding the area, resulting in an unexpected slowdown for businesses.

READ MORE: Water supply shut off in some McMaster buildings after watermain break

Several business owners like Amra Bahonjic of Kolmiz Foods Inc. reported that between the breaks and rain, few customers were walking through their doors.

“It’s slow, it’s affected, you can see people can’t pass. They can’t come to the store from Grays Road so they have to go all the way around and then come to this store so it’s ok… but if there’s a problem they have to get it fixed right?”

Lucky’s Fish N Chips experienced similar disruptions to business-as-usual. 

“It’s been 45 minutes now (since opening). No call no customer and I have no idea if I will get any customer or anybody,” said Nitti Kaur. 

“My electricity is on, my fryers are on. I have batter for my fish. I’ll have to dump it in the evening if no one comes” 

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Road closures remained in effect for much of the day in the area of Barton Street and Grays Road, causing major delays as crews worked to repair the damage.

It was a busy day for those city workers, who responded to a total of three water main breaks in Hamilton.

One happened overnight near 41 Valley Road in Dundas and was cleared later into the morning.

Another followed on McMaster University’s Campus that resulted in water supplies being shut off in eight buildings for repairs.

As for Hamilton’s largest break of the day, the city says repairs may not be complete until Friday afternoon and drivers are asked to continue avoiding the area.