Last Thursday, Maple Avenue became a parking lot, as the Water and Sewage Division of Vienna's Department of Public Works was forced to cordon off two blocks of the town's main thoroughfare for much of the day in order to fix a broken sewage pipe.
From 10 a.m. until well after dark, the street was closed from Center Street to Pleasant Street, as was Lawyers Road for one block north and Courthouse Road for one block south. During this time, water and sewage workers dug under the street, repaired the pipe and then repaired the street.
The town placed signs on either end of Maple Avenue telling commuters to seek alternate routes, stationed police to direct traffic, posted an alert on the Vienna Web site and called local traffic reporters, but drivers were brought to a standstill up and down the street anyway.
"We've done all we can do," said Marie Kisner, the town's public information officer.