Water Main Break Floods Roadway, Spills Onto Highway 99 In South Sacramento

SOUTH SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A water main break flooded the southbound lanes of Highway 99 at 12th Avenue Monday evening.

The flooding caused major traffic backups on Highway 99 in South Sacramento around 5:20 p.m. All southbound lanes were affected. While the road was flooded, vehicles were only able to move through the far-left lane.

By 8 p.m., Caltrans was able to remove the water from the roadway and trucks were sweeping debris. All southbound lanes reopened by 8:52 p.m.

The water main break happened in the area of Sutterville Road and Franklin Boulevard. Sacramento Police helped with traffic control as roads were shut down.

On Highway 50, the eastbound and westbound connectors to Highway 99 were also closed due to the flooding.

A spokesperson for the city of Sacramento said crews responded to a water main leak at 14th Ave. and Franklin Boulevard earlier Monday and scheduled a crew to repair it later in the evening so they "wouldn't impact businesses in the area when we had to shut off the water."

Before crews could make the repair, the spokesperson said the leak evolved into a water main break. The crews were able to restore water back to residents Monday night, but several businesses were still affected.

Water Distribution Superintendent John Conover said the cause of the break has not yet been determined.

"There's several things that could have happened. Over age, time, rust just things that naturally occur with the pipe that can cause a leak," Conover said.

He said the pipes are old.

"We have infrastructure that's still in use today that's from the early 1900s," Conover said.