AVENTURA, Fla. – After a wastewater main break disrupted traffic on William Lehman Causeway for about a day, police officers were dealing with another main break nearby in Aventura on Saturday afternoon.
The second damaged pipe was near the place where a 24-inch sewer line ruptured on the causeway Thursday night.
The damage disrupted traffic between Biscayne Boulevard in Aventura and Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach until Saturday afternoon, when officers reopened the causeway's westbound lanes.
To deal with the second main break, Aventura Police Department officers closed the southbound lanes of West Country Club Drive at Spoke Road, which is one of the eastern entrances of Aventura Mall.
The eastbound and westbound lanes of traffic on the William Lehman Causeway are now open after crews with the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department spent the last three days making repairs to a 40-year-old sewer line that ruptured underneath the roadway Thursday.
The break initially caused sewage to spill, forcing workers to place signs warning residents to avoid contact with the contaminated water near the Aventura Mall.
Crews said the process was not simple, having to remove sand and water before reaching the pipe that was 12 feet under the ground. They are now removing sewage from a retention pond and putting it in the back of containers on trucks.
But just as all lanes of traffic were opened on the William Lehman Causeway, crews rushed to make repairs to another break on West Country Club Drive.
"It is just gridlock. The whole area of Aventura is just horrible for traffic," Aventura resident Kuno Vanderpost said.
Aventura police blocked the southbound lanes of West Country Club Drive while vacuum trucks lined the street, clearing sewage so workers could begin fixing the break.
"They are lucky it is the weekend because it would've been crazy during the week," motorist Aliza Lichy said.
The closure caused an inconvenience for residents like Vanderpost, who was unable to get home.
"It's really frustrating because, I mean, we have had to park in here in order to get into that building," Vanderpost said.
Drivers tried to navigate around the road closures. They only hope this one will be fixed faster than the last break.
"I just hope they get it fixed," Lichy said.