A Moorestown water main on Main Street burst early Friday morning, forcing the town to close down a section of the street.

The main ruptured in front of Carollo’s Little Italy, located on Main Street between Church Street and Chester Avenue. A township official at the repair site said that the pipe burst “around midnight.”

The region of Main Street between Church and Chester was closed to cars, although pedestrians were allowed to pass. Water flow in the main was restored by 6:30, and the street was reopened to cars at 11:25 am once the pipe was fully repaired. “The repairs are done; now it’s just a matter of hoping that it holds,” remarked a local police officer who declined to give his name. He said that the repair crew would leave the scene once the hole in the street was filled, but mentioned that they would be back to “clean up the street.”

No one on the repair site seemed flustered by the situation. “An old main… It was its time,” remarked the police officer of the pipe that burst. Another town official commented that, “being 100 years old, made out of concrete, it’s expected.”

Regarding preemptive repairs of other water mains, he said that they will be replaced “on an as-needed basis.” He added that the town has had 38 pipe bursts since January.

“When we have planned jobs, we’ll hand out flyers, saying the water’s going to be off at [a given] time. But for emergencies we don’t have that option.”

The school was notified about the pipe burst around 5:30 am, said MFS Communications Director Mike Schlotterbeck. The school promptly notified MFS families “as a courtesy measure,” said Schlotterbeck, whose voice played on all school families’ answering machines in a recorded message about the leak.

Dean of Students Mike Brunswick excused all latenesses Friday morning in light of the situation. “A late is a late, but then I decide whether or not it should be excused,” said Brunswick. “I wasn’t going to penalize students – hit them with an unexcused late – because of [the situation].”