CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A waterline break at the intersection of McArdle Road and Staples Street is still causing headaches for drivers and local businesses near the area.
The City of Corpus Christi initiated an emergency closure of part of the intersection on Sunday after a contractor punctured the waterline.
City officials are asking drivers to continue avoiding the area while work is done on the waterline. They estimate repairs on the pipe to be done by Friday and the street to be repaired soon after that.
Drivers are currently rerouted depending on the direction they are coming from. Eastbound McArdle Road is closed for now and drivers are diverted northbound on Staples Street.
Local business Firestone is on the corner on McArdle Road and Staples Street and said many think they are closed or under construction. Service manager Cindy Flores said they now see 50 percent less customers daily since Sunday. She said many drivers are cutting through their parking lot, driving fast and endangering their staff.
"A lot of cars are just passing through and can cause accidents cause we do our test drives around the building," Flores said. "So when cars are cutting through, we could kind of intercept. So, it's getting a little hectic out here."
Corpus Christi Fire Department Station 11 said the repairs at Staples Street and McArdle Road affect their service area. They said traffic flow and ability to make some calls quickly is a concern, even without construction, during peak driving times.
CCFD acting Battalion Chief Justin Schroeder said its something every station needs to account for and will notify other stations that help with calls.
"Based on the call, we may dispatch a unit from a different station to get there a little bit quicker based on the nature of the call," Schroeder said. "We also factor in these guys are pretty good on their streets in this territory and so they will take alternate routes to the call based on what we're experiencing there."
Corpus Christi Regional Transit Authority said at least six routes are affected by the repairs: 6, 17, 26, 29, 37 and 65.
CCRTA officials said the buses are being rerouted, causing delays of about 20 minutes on average and varying by route. They said they hope to return to normal service by late next week, when they expect the City of Corpus Christi to notify them.
They said you can find out about bus delays on CCRTA's app, website and social media.