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Water main break closes East Main Street

TIM GANNON PHOTO| Riverhead Water District crew works to repair a ruptured water line on East Main Street.

A water main break Monday morning closed East Main Street in Riverhead to traffic for much of the day.

The rupture occurred shortly before 7 a.m., spewing water into the middle of the roadway in front of Tuthill Funeral Home near Altantis Marine World.

Police blocked the roadway from Union Avenue to Ostrander Avenue, officials said.

Gary Pendzick, head of the Riverhead Water District, expected the road to open 5 p.m. Monday. Crews restored water to most of the surrounding businesses soon after the break, he added.

“The [nearby] gas station had no water for the day,” he said. “The other business and services along the way, Atlantis aquarium and some of the others, they got water back within the hour.”

He said water mains rupture often during the cold months, especially without snow on the ground to provide insulation.