It’s 10 metres wide.

It covers four lanes.

It’s a mess.

And it may be there for a long time.

If you live or work on Sheppard Ave. east of Bathurst, prepare for the kind of traffic and living headache not even Toronto’s summer construction season can bring to our roads.

A water main break on the busy street created a flood of problems early Wednesday morning, carrying away pieces of pavement and creating a huge sinkhole officials admit could take weeks -- or even longer -- to fix.

Because a bridge runs underneath the affected area, city engineers will have to come in and test the structural stability before allowing cars back on it.

And they’re not sure how long that might take.

"The water main we should have back in play in the next couple of days," assures Mike Siokalo of Toronto Water. "If the bridge isn't compromised this should be back in service probably sometime next week. But it's a little premature right now until the engineers get out here and look at it."

But if the bridge’s safety has been compromised, it could be weeks before the road is reopened to motorists – which could mean big commuter headaches in the meantime as drivers are forced to find other ways to get where they're going.

"This route that I take now I’ve been on for 20 minutes," complains inconvenienced driver Lisa Leonard. "It usually takes me two. It’s not a neighbourhood that can handle it."

Another motorist said it was now going to take her longer to bring her children to school in the morning.

"The kids are not too far from school, and then I’ve got to get to work and I’m running late already," grumbles Elizabeth Toth.

Sheppard Ave. is currently closed to both drivers and pedestrians between Canyon and Easton Sts., which is about halfway between Bathurst and Yonge Sts.

"The damage to the road is substantial," agrees Gary Welsh of the city’s Transportation Services. “Our goals are to fast track any repairs and open Sheppard Avenue in this area as soon as possible in order to minimize the disruption to the public and motorists in the area.”

But it’s not just drivers who are being inconvenienced. The water was temporarily shut off to nearly 500 residents.

City officials hooked pipes to local hydrants by nightfall, finally ending the day-long dry spell.

It’s an eerie déjà vu for others in the city far away from the stricken neighbourhood.

Last August, a flash flood washed away a portion of Finch Ave. near Sentinel Road, resulting in a closure and repair that lasted for months.

And business owners at Highway 7 and Jane in Vaughan are still waiting for compensation and the route to their stores to be reopened, after a water main break last February lead to a massive sinkhole and the need for extensive sewer repairs.

The busy area has been off limits to traffic ever since, and projections are things won’t be completely fixed until the end of May.

While officials insist that project is far larger than the one they’re facing on Sheppard, they admit the annoyance and inconvenience factors may well make it seem like the repairs are taking almost as long.

• Fortunately the main break happened at 4am, when there was almost no traffic and no pedestrians. But at least one person came close to being injured. A homeless man who lives under the bridge had to scurry to safety to escape his suddenly falling makeshift ceiling. He’ll have to find another place to sleep, too.