By Emily Maloney
Police closed part of Progress Avenue near Markham Rd after a water main burst early this morning.
Along with this incident, last night a 2 metre wide sinkhole formed on Coe Hill Dr near High Park after a water main break caused the sewers beneath the road to collapsed.
The problem of water main breaks has been an ongoing issue for the City of Toronto and other parts of the GTA.
According to the City of Toronto website North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke have a higher rate of water main breaks because pipes in those areas are predominately in clay soil instead of sand.
During the past two years there have been over 27 major water main breaks to make the news.
According to the City of Toronto there is 1,500 water main breaks on average per year due to mechanical or structural failure of the city’s underground pipes and each repair costs on average $8,000.
(Photo Credited to Global News – water main breaks from 1990 – 2014)
Toronto Water, who is responsible for repairing these water main breaks, had a total operating budget of $403.2 million in 2014 according to budget documents, but this is only one of many responsibilities they are in charge of.