A flooded street and sidewalk area caused trouble for some MSU students Wednesday, who faced the option of either taking an alternate route or strapping on their galoshes.
Traffic stammered along on Grand River Avenue, which was reduced to one lane in both directions, hours after a water main burst near Woodmere Street.
City crews worked to clean up the area, drill deep under the street and clamp off the damaged main.
Subway manager Kristen Haveman stood behind the counter of her empty restaurant, watching the crews work among ice and mud outside the front window.
Haveman said she was the one to notify the city about the break when she reported to work at 8 a.m. and saw water "spewing out of the ground."
Hours later, the Subway parking lot adjacent to the street was completely covered in ice.
"There is usually a line to the door for lunch," she said. "Not today."
The city department of public works turned off Subway's water earlier Wednesday to stop the eruption that sent water gushing over areas on Grand River Avenue and Woodmere Street.
Employees brought in jugs of water for sanitation reasons and purchased cans of pop to sell to customers since the soda machine was inoperable, Haveman said.
The store will remain open for regular business hours, despite the added problems and slow business, she said.
Todd Sneathen, East Lansing director of public works and environmental services, said that the incident was probably due to a frozen pipe.
"It will take us a few days to fix the road because of the cold weather," he said, estimating the cost to be at least $1,000.
Students walking to school and work trudged through mud and icy puddles as they passed the affected block.
"It's pretty messy," said English junior Robbie McCord while walking through the area to his Cedar View apartment. "This morning, I was really sloshing around."
Marketing senior Paul Moore said he took Albert Avenue to campus to avoid the traffic.
"I heard about it on the radio this morning and I decided to take an alternate way," he said.
Jack Amman was a member of the crew repairing the water main. As of 4 p.m., Amman said the source of the problem was still not found.
"The water will just find the easiest spot to come up," he said.
Amman said the city faces similar problems two or three times a week. Last winter, about 50 pipes burst in different areas of the city.
