West Martin Luther King Boulevard was shut down Saturday after car hit a fire hydrant, resulting in a broken water main beneath the road.Tennessee American Water technicians worked through the night Saturday on M.L. King Boulevard to restore water to the Holiday Inn Express and other businesses after a water main broke Saturday morning.
The rupture occurred when a car crashed into a fire hydrant at the intersection of Gateway Avenue and M.L. King. The impact shattered a water main, and a gusher of water poured through cracks in the asphalt and down the street.
Residents at the CHA apartment towers and surrounding businesses were without water for about five hours Saturday, but the Holiday Inn Express had to wait until early Sunday morning.
"By 5:30 a.m., all water was restored to our customers," said Tennessee American spokeswoman Laura Vinson said. "That was our first priority."
Businesses and residents alike appreciated the restored water.
"We [are] glad to see it back," apartment resident John Hutchins said Sunday. "Now the water's back on, we can watch the Super Bowl."
Joe Cox, another resident in the CHA apartments, was also happy to have water restored.
"I just ... pshhhh," he said, moving his arms in a swimming motion. "I dove right in!"
Roadblocks still stand on M.L. King Boulevard from the Holiday Inn to the intersection with Gateway Avenue. The street is a mess of washed-down dirt and gravel, cracked asphalt and wet cement where workers are beginning to patch the road.
No details about further repairs were available on Sunday evening, though the city has offered to help.
"If they need our services, we will definitely be available to help," Richard Beeland, spokesman for Mayor Ron Littlefield, said Sunday.
Whatever the fate of the road out front, the courtyard fountain at the Holiday Inn, silent on Saturday, once again is gurgling and brimful of water.