CUMMING – Hutchinson Road was opened to traffic, hours after a fire hydrant was hit, leaving water shooting over thirty feet into the air.  

Deputies on the scene said that the incident started as traffic was trying to go around a truck that had broken down further up Hutchinson Road, near Atlanta Highway.  The  of a pickup truck told deputies he was forced to swerve to avoid another car that came into his lane as it came around the disabled truck, and that he hit the hydrant trying to keep from hitting the car head-on.  

Utility workers had some trouble closing one of the valves that feeds the line, but they were able to get the water flow stopped just after 6 P.M. Monday night.  They then had to pump the remaining water out of the hole in order to determine how much damage had been done.

Hutchinson Road, which connects Larry Mulkey Memorial Blvd. with Atlanta Hwy. was closed until late Monday evening, when workers re-opened the roadway to traffic.  Work along the shoulder to repair the area damaged by the leak still remains to be completed. 

---