Columbia St. expected to reopen Saturday after New West water main break

The City of New Westminster says East Columbia Street is expected to open late Saturday, a day after a water main break closed the area, resulting in several evacuations.

A section of the street has been closed from McBride Boulevard to Richmond Street since around 2 a.m. Friday. Metro Vancouver told The Leader Spirit in a statement that the break occurred around 11:45 p.m. Thursday.

Twenty homes on Francis Way and Jamieson Court were affected.

“Crews have been working around the clock to pump water out of the buildings on Jamieson Court,” the City of New West said in a post on X.

“As this water is currently going on the road, Columbia Street will remain closed until the pumping is complete. At this time we are estimating the road will reopen later today.”

New West Fire Deputy Chief Brad Davie says this is one of the largest water main ruptures he has been involved with.

“Most of our water main ruptures are significantly smaller.”

With files from Charles Brockman.

Listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver every 10 minutes on the ones for traffic updates. You can also follow us on X @NewsRadioVan and subscribe to Traffic Alerts sent directly to your inbox.