Busted water main repaired, restaurants waiting for water tests

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- Crews have replaced a broken water main and reopened a busy intersection in Syracuse's Armory Square.

Broken water mains are a daily problem in Syracuse in cold weather.

It would cost $2.6 billion to replace the lines, installed over a century ago, according to Mayor Stephanie Miner's Chief of Staff Bill Ryan. Without government funding, the city is left to pay for repairs, as needed.

During Downtown Dining Week, the break in Armory Square forced five restaurants to close including Lofo, Opus, The Limerick Pub, Namu, and Sakana-Ya.

Sakana-Ya waiter Jonathan Paduano told NewsChannel 9, “Especially with dining week and all the advertising that has gone into it, we would have expected to gain a lot of money from it, so it is definitely unfortunate that we had to close."

"Normally, after a water main break of this magnitude, the water is sampled a couple of days in a row to make sure it is safe and 99 out of 100 times, they come back as negative,” explained Kevin Zimmerman with the Onondaga County Health Department.

The repairs blocked off a main intersection at a time when many restaurants, offering deep discounts, bring in extra staff to accommodate more traffic.

As crews carefully placed a new section of piping underground, the best scenario for restaurants on the line is a limited menu for the next two days, while the water is tested.

"I know with Sushi you are always washing the rice. But, it is definitely tough to even have a limited menu and also to prepare for the day without water,” Paduano continued.

The Health Department needs two straight days of clean water samples. Then, closed restaurants could go back to a full menu Friday morning at the earliest.

With road restoration, the cost of the repair is about $150,000.