Water Main Break On Broken Arrow Expressway Causes Traffic Backups

A lot of people unexpectedly drove under a huge water geyser after a water main broke near the Broken Arrow Expressway.

Crews shut off the water within an hour and are repairing the break near the 51st street and 129th east avenue exit.

Witnesses said it was a sight to see, and we caught it all on camera.

There was an unexpected break in Brandon Wanner's workday; an 8" water main break, that is.

"Heard a low like, 'boom' and then my manager said, 'Hey, run outside come look at this.' The ground had burst open and spraying water completely over the BA Expressway," said Brandon Wanner, Tulsa Sign Company.

"It was shooting above the sign, across the sign, across the highway, everywhere," said Alec Mitchell, Witness.

Mitchell was on his way out of work when he said water erupted.

"Suddenly it just exploded. Shooting lots of water everywhere. Pretty cool. It was like a geyser," said Mitchell. "Sending water and rocks hitting the wall. You could hear rocks hitting the cars."

The break happened just before 4 p.m. Monday afternoon and didn't cause any wrecks, but rush hour traffic was backed up several miles.

"All of the sudden everybody started hitting their brakes. People were hitting horns. But other than that, everybody was just washing their car for free," said Mitchell.

Crews shut off the water around 4:30 p.m.

The city said four businesses were affected by the break.

"It was kind of neat. Especially the rainbow behind it," said Wanner.

Wanner said Tulsa seems to have a lot of water line issues.

"By my house several times. By some business property we had. We've had water breaks quite often. Seems that this is a thing for Tulsa," said Wanner.

We're waiting for an update from the City on what caused the break.