Water main breaks foul up Saugus traffic

SAUGUS – Two water breaks that came within a half hour of each other tied up traffic Thursday along Routes 1 and 99.Public Works Superintendent Joseph Attubato said the first break on Route 1 north in front of the Kowloon Restaurant came in at 2 a.m. and by the morning rush hour had traffic backed up beyond the Revere line across three lanes. He called conditions miserable and said he felt bad for the commuters stuck in traffic.”The break was in the speed lane, so we did have the right side open,” he said.Barely 30 minutes after the Route 1 break, Attubato said he received word of a second break on Osprey Road, just off Route 99 near Lowe’s Home Improvement. Attubato said he is unsure what caused the second break but, despite the distance apart, it could have been the result of the first break.”They are the same line and once it breaks, it can echo all over the place,” he said.Attubato said it is also the same line that has been the source of many breaks over the years.”It’s the same area too,” he said regarding the Route 1 break. “The same area we’ve had breaks for the last 35 years and the state doesn’t want to do anything about it.”While DPW workers attacked the break on Osprey Road, Attubato said outside contractors were called in for the Route 1 mess. The lanes were reopened at 3:30 p.m. and the water to local residents was restored.”I don’t know how much these will cost yet, but it will cost the town,” Attubato said.