On Thursday morning in Beacon, a water main broke on Route 52 near Dunkin’ Donuts, causing traffic jams for the morning commute. One parent of middle schoolers at Rombout Middle School said she was stuck in traffic, and thought it was a result of the Beacon High School re-opening after Wednesday’s closure. But after learning about the water main break, she realized that could have been the problem.

“The road was closed from Prospect Avenue in Fishkill to Blackburn Avenue” (in Beacon, by Ron’s Ice Cream), confirmed Anthony Ruggiero, the City Administrator for Beacon. By 11:30 am, cars were being routed for one lane of traffic, and by 12 pm the road was open and the break fixed. The Beacon Highway Department was on it like bonnets to close up the street and sweep it.

The Barking Frog, located across the street and down the road a bit from Dunkin’ Donuts, was pleased with Beacon’s response, saying via A Little Beacon Blog’s Instagram: “Great job guys! We were so happy to be able to open this afternoon!!!!”

If you noticed low water pressure this morning, it was a result of the water main break, confirmed Anthony when we inquired. No one lost water, he added.

The City of Beacon gave an overview of water and sewer pipe infrastructure in Beacon, and the city’s current and future plans to upgrade it during the March 4, 2019, City Council meeting. You can read about that here in this article on A Little Beacon Blog. The article includes a breakdown of what was done to address the sewer pipe break back in February 2019.