Katerina Stankovic
Roads surrounding St John Street, Islington, were still closed today off because of a flood caused by a large underground water main bursting over a week ago.
The burst happened on Saturday June 25 at 10:45am causing the tarmac to crack and the whole road to flood and leaving behind heaps of debris after it dried up. Witnesses said that the water flowed several feet high for 45 minutes.
Families boarded up their houses to protect them from flooding, but two basement flats were flooded.
A Thames Water spokesman said: “We were carrying out planned repairs in the area when the main pipe burst.
It has now been repaired, although we expect it to be at least a week before the road is rebuilt over the top of it.”
A sign at the site says that the road will be ready for use by July 12, but walking down the road, anyone can see that there isn’t much hope of them meeting the deadline.
A builder working on the site said: “We don’t know when the road will be finished. Since the pipe that broke was such an old water main, they keep bursting. Every time we fix one pipe, another one bursts. We can’t rebuild the road while the pipes keep bursting.”
The road affected is a busy road as well as a bus route, and its closure is stopping a lot of people from getting to and from Angel.
Paula Hearst, 73, said: “I always do my shopping at Sainsbury’s in Angel and always take the 153 bus from Goswell Road to Chapel Market, but because of the workings I now have to take two different buses and it takes me three times longer to get there.”
The stops affected include St John Street/Goswell Road, Rosebery Avenue/Sadlers Wells, Friend Street/Sadlers Wells and Spencer Street/City University. Buses are diverted and are subject to delays until July 11. Check the TFL website for a list of diversions.
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