WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Crews worked to repair a broken water main in Takoma Park that snarled rush hour traffic and shut down the northbound lanes of New Hampshire Avenue on Tuesday, but officials gave no guarantee that the problem would be fixed by this morning’s commute.

Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission spokeswoman Lyn Riggins said aging pipes and fluctuating cold weather caused a 20-inch crack in a pipe in the 7300 block of New Hampshire Avenue around 4 a.m. Tuesday. No customers were affected, but flooding on the roadway caused the road to buckle, Riggins said.

There were no injuries reported.

“Things get old. They wear out. They break,” Riggins said.

Also early Tuesday, a fire hydrant break on Archdale Road in Germantown gave students at Fox Chapel Elementary School a day off in advance of winter break, which begins Friday. Brian Edwards, spokesman for Superintendent Jerry Weast, said water service was cut off to the school while crews repaired the hydrant.

Water main breaks have been a persistent problem in the county all year. A water main break shut down River Road this summer, and another break flooded basements around Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda and left thousands of customers without service.

WSSC officials blame the problems on the system’s antiquated pipes, which serve Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

In November, County Executive Ike Leggett agreed to a $20 monthly fee requested by WSSC to begin infrastructure improvements. The Prince George’s Council must also approve the increase.

The WSSC is required by state law to give its proposed budget to the counties by March 1 of each year. Each county must approve amendments to the budget by June 1 before it can be adopted by the commission.

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com