Back in business: I-694 reopens after week-long closure

Drivers across the east metro were breathing sighs of relief Saturday morning.

A long stretch of Interstate 694 that was closed for almost a week, due to a water main break that caused a sinkhole, has been reopened.

An 11-foot crack in a pipe leaked more than 1.5-million gallons of water under I-694 in Oakdale.

“It has caused water to seep up on to the roadway; it’s created a sink hole underneath part of the roadway,” Kevin Gutknecht of the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.

The pipe was installed in 1964, but Oakdale city officials don’t believe age was a factor in the incident.

Closing I-694 at 15th Street North caused detours for an estimated 87,000 vehicles that travel the highway each day.

The nearby 15th Street overpass became a hot spot where eager onlookers could see what was causing all of the commotion.

One week after the break, the bridge is back to its normal winter state: frozen and abandoned.

The interstate is bustling once again. Only a piece of disturbed earth serving as a reminder of the tremendous hiccup in thousands of morning commutes throughout the week.