Early Thursday morning commuters were caught in traffic on Newhall Ranch Road after crews closed two westbound lanes near Whisper Mill Circle in Valencia for water main maintenance, according to a Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency representative.
Kevin Strauss, spokesman for SCV Water Agency, said maintenance crews were installing a new pipe near Whisper Mill Circle that caused the temporary shutdown of two lanes.
Part of the maintenance work when installing a new pipe is that the contractors will test the water to make sure there are no bacteria or leakage, and then they flush the water through.
The city of Santa Clarita added a post on social media at approximately 7 a.m. to alert commuters about driving around the location and being careful should they have to drive through the spot Thursday morning.
“Please avoid the area, slow down, drive with caution and use alternate routes, if possible,” the post read. “Expect updates to follow as crews are currently working to fix the problem.”
According to observations from the scene, crews were opening lanes back up at approximately 8:30 a.m.
