Water Main Breaks, Causing Closure of Mankato Ave

Intersection of Highways 43 and 61 looking north towards Mankato Ave. Photo: MnDOT District 6

(KWNO)- A water main along Mankato Ave. broke in the early morning hours today causing the closure of Mankato Ave. from Hwy 61 to Frontenac Dr.

The closure was due to the large amounts of flooding and damage to the road.

Brian Defrang of Winona Public Works tells KWNO that nothing specifically caused the water main to break. It was an old water main and there was already a plan in place to replace it during the current construction.

There is no guarantee, but Defrang, along with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, hopes that Mankato Ave. will be opened again later today.

Mike Dougherty of MNDOT says they’ll have to examine the damage the water caused to the road and they might have to fix the road if the damage is extensive.

He also said that this illustrates the obvious need for the replacement of the water main and the whole construction project of Hwy 61 and 43.