Light Street

City crews focused on connecting temporary water lines and clearing damaged areas of Light Street in downtown Baltimore on Wednesday in the beginning stages of a large repair operation following Monday's water main break. "One of the main concerns today was stabilization and safety, so we had to make sure that the gas lines and electric lines were protected," said Kurt Kocher, a city public works spokesman. Crews excavated stretches of the roadway in preparation for the removal of two water mains — the 20-inch-wide pipe dating to 1889 that burst Monday and a parallel 10-inch pipe dating to 1914 — but limited the exposure of the pipes while other pressing needs like water restoration were addressed, Kocher said.

As of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was congested in downtown Baltimore, due to repairs to a broken water main at Light and Redwood streets. Light Street was closed from Fayette Street to Lombard Street, and Redwood Street was closed from Calvert Street to Light Street, due to repair work. Portions of Lombard Street also were closed near the Light and Redwood intersection. Accidents were slowing traffic on Route 100 westbound near I-95 in Howard County and Woodsdale Road near Route 924 in Abingdon.

A 120-year-old water main that broke and flooded downtown streets will disrupt traffic for at least three weeks, said city officials who reminded residents that such disruptions are frequent because of the aging infrastructure beneath Baltimore. As crews surveyed a gaping hole caused in part by a water main that burst under Light Street, other workers had been dispatched to Fells Point where another pipe broke, forcing the city to close part of Fleet Street and cutting water service for a time to about 30 businesses and homes.

Commuters to Baltimore are likely to face heavy traffic and major delays Tuesday, after a large water main break downtown buckled the surface of Light Street and sent water gushing through Lombard and Pratt streets. Jamie Kendrick, the city's deputy transportation director, advised commuters to “think ahead, plan ahead, [and] use alternate routes” Tuesday, including Metro and light rail. “We've got a lot to find out once we've got the water shut off,” Kendrick said.

Work and weekend events have shut down several city thoroughfares, officials said. A crane lift is expected to shut down 20 t h Street between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Charles Street to Maryland Avenue. A portion of Falls Road at the intersection of Northern Parkway will be closed from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. for a crane lift and tree work. At least one lane is expected to remain open in each direction. Officials warn of delays. The St. Paul Street and Mt. Royal Avenue exit on Jones Falls Expressway will be closed for southbound traffic from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a crane lift operation.

There must be some sort of cosmic alignment this weekend, because just as "The Avengers" movie is released, Free Comic Book Day is upon us. I don't read comics often anymore, but I have fond memories of my parents buying a bunch for me and my sister for our two-hour family trips from Connecticut to New York. I was a super-hero fan; she leaned toward Archie. We sometimes read while curled up on the floor of the family's massive Chevrolet, in the pre-seatbelt days. (Don't try this at home.)

I looked once, then twice at a Light Street building across from the Cross Street Market in Federal Hill. Was the old Epstein's department store returning to Baltimore? The answer came from its developer, Arsh Mirmiran. His new 93-unit apartment complex totally fills the site of the institution where so many South Baltimoreans shopped for decades until it closed in 1991. The apartment project so replicates the old store's facade that I was fooled. That is where the comparison ends.

Being new in the field, we of course have not as yet established an exchange list, and cannot make our sheet so varied as we could wish.  In a few days, however, the civil war will be remedied and we doubt not that we shall then be found quite as interesting as our neighbors.  It can scarcely be necessary to bespeak the indulgence of the reader. __________ Persons wishing to take the Sun can have it left at their residence or place of business regularly every morning, by leaving their name and address at the office, 21 Light street, near Baltimore street.

In childhood, after church then lunch with my grandmother, I went on Sunday drives with my family throughout Baltimore. When we rode around the harbor, it looked nothing like it does today. It was a bunch of ratty docks, beat-up row houses, the Fava Fruit Company, and McCormick & Company, our favorite because of the large vanilla bottle and pepper can that sat on top of the company's Light Street building.   In later years, when the Inner Harborwas redeveloped, my husband and I went down regularly for dinner and a stroll around the promenade.