Elmhurst water main break closes part of York Road

ELMHURST, Ill. (WLS) -- A water main break shut down lanes on a busy stretch of York Road Thursday morning in west suburban Elmhurst.

City crews worked in the bitter cold to fix the broken main after water spilled out and froze on the pavement on the southeast corner of York and Butterfield Road.

High temperatures were only expected to reach around 10 degrees Thursday. A Wind Chill Advisory was in effect in the area when the main broke.

The icy lanes were blocked to traffic on York between Butterfield and Roosevelt Road as crews worked. City officials urged drivers to avoid the slushy, slippery area, since crews had not yet reached the broken main as of 11 a.m.

Once they reach the break, crews will turn off the water. Some area businesses will be affected during that time. Repairs should only take about five hours to complete, officials said.

Elmhurst public works officials said this is the 13th water main break they've had in the last ten days because of the arctic cold temperatures, and ten of those breaks happened over the weekend alone.

"Usually with this weather, we (attribute) it to the drop in the temperature. We don't have a lot of snow cover, which usually provides a little bit of insulation on the ground," Elmhurst Director of Public Works Howard Killian said. "So we think either the frost is going that deep and causing the ground to hit the mains, or the cold temperatures, coming in from Lake Michigan, of the water itself."