Waterline break causes headaches in Arena District

Crews continued to work Friday night in the Arena District after a waterline rupture created a pond in the area and a headache for motorists and hockey fans.

Two northbound lanes and one southbound lane of Neil Avenue at Spruce Street, as well as one lane on the connecting ramps to Interstate 670, had reopened by late Friday.

The waterline break, which occurred just before 3 p.m., flooded the area for at least four hours, leading to the closure of Neil Avenue from Vine Street to Goodale Avenue. That affected Friday afternoon rush hour and the start of the Columbus Blue Jackets home opener game. The lanes on Neil and the ramps were reopened in time for CBJ fans headed home after the loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

John Ivanic, a spokesman for the Columbus Department of Public Utilities, said determining that the waterline involved was the 12-inch line on Spruce rather than the 24-inch main line under Neil was what took water crews until 7 p.m. Friday to shut off the water. One office building, at 300 Spruce St., was affected by the water outage, he said.

The flooding water also buckled the sidewalk on the west side of Neil at Spruce. That will be repaired, Ivanic said.

Matt Hoskinson, a Blue Jackets’ fan from the Far North Side, said he typically parks north of Spruce and walks to the games on Neil. He said the flooding caused issues for many fans trying to get to the game.