It wasn't the day for a drive on Pacific Coast Highway.
An overnight car crash resulted in a broken water main pipe. Santa Monica police Lt. Mohamed Marhaba said the driver of the vehicle that struck that above-ground water main still flooding Pacific Coast Highway has been arrested for DUI. The driver crashed into an above-ground water line along Pacific Coast Highway, unleashing a stream of water that eroded a cliffside and muddied the roadway, which was closed early Thursday.
The crash in the 1200 block of PCH occurred about 1:30 a.m. near California Incline, the section of California Avenue that cuts into the cliffside and connects downtown Santa Monica to the coastal route.
The California Highway Patrol closed PCH in both directions, and stopped westbound traffic on the Santa Monica (10) Freeway at Lincoln Boulevard to prevent more traffic from feeding into the mess.
The California Highway Patrol closed PCH in both directions and stopped westbound traffic on the Santa Monica (10) Freeway at Lincoln Boulevard.
The motorist hit an air-release valve on the main Los Angeles County Waterworks line that feeds Malibu, but no service interruptions were reported as a result of the accident, Martin McCain, a supervisor at the Malibu office said.
The damaged valve connects to a water line that is only about 3 inches in diameter, but McCain said it was a high pressure line. Part of the problem in turning off the flow of water was that shutoff valves on both sides of the air-release valve were covered in mud, he said.
A 150-foot stream shot from the break.
