A water main break snarled traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway Friday morning, affecting southbound lanes during the busy morning commute.

The break occurred in a 990 millimetre steel pipe at around 11:45 p.m. Thursday near the Helmcken Overpass, according to the CRD.

Water was still gushing onto the highway around 8:15 a.m., but was later shut off as crews dug up a portion of the highway to locate the break.

Ted Robbins, general manager of CRD water services, said the pipe broke at a welded joint and crews were in the process of welding a new coupling around 2:30 p.m. They hoped to have welding complete by 5 or 6 p.m., but were then faced with repairing and repaving two lanes of the highway with work expected to last late into the night.

The damage was not believed to be related to the cold weather.

A single southbound lane was open to traffic as of 5 a.m. but the CRD said further lane closures may take place to complete repairs.

Motorists were advised to use alternate routes to travel to Victoria and to expect traffic delays throughout the day.

Photos showed traffic backed up onto Veteran's Memorial Parkway into downtown Langford, and some drivers reported sitting in traffic for close to an hour before even getting on the highway.

Langford Mayor Stew Young said it's another example of why something needs to be done to alleviate traffic between the West Shore and Victoria.

“With that water main break today, you can see what it does to the traffic in the whole region," said Young. "People in Langford or the West Shore or up-island, they’re just not going to go to Victoria anymore. It’s going to affect business, it’s going to affect a lot of the economy of that region.”

Young again mentioned the possibility of restoring a portion of the former E&N rail line between Langford and Victoria to give commuters another option to travel between the cities, provided the business model makes sense to taxpayers.

He said not giving commuters alternate choices will have a dire effect, especially with the rapidly growing pace of the West Shore and up-island communities.

“This is a serious matter now with serious consequences if we don’t fix it, and today’s a good example of what it’s going to be like here in 10 years," he said.

The CRD said no water service interruption were to be expected as a result of the break, but residents in Victoria West, Tillicum, Esquimalt and View Royal may notice lower water pressure and increased turbidity as a result of fine sediments being disturbed by the sudden pressure change.

The CRD confirmed water remained safe to drink in those areas.

It estimated repairs would take until late Friday to complete.