A broken 20-inch water main near Kanewai Community Park on Dole Street shut down the main artery from Saint Louis to Manoa, interrupted water service as far as Diamond Head and prompted the closure of four schools Thursday.

The break was first reported around 2 a.m. and affected water service to customers in St. Louis Heights, Wilhelmina Rise, Palolo Valley and Kaimuki, according to the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.

Police closed all lanes of Dole Street between East-West Road and Frank Street while Honolulu Board of Water Supply crews worked to replace a section of the damaged line, interrupting the normally heavy flow of traffic to the University of Hawaii at Manoa from St. Louis Drive.

St. Louis Drive also was closed at the Dole Street intersection, diverting motorists coming and going from St. Louis Heights to enter and exit via Frank Street.

A water wagon was stationed at the intersection of Dole and Frank streets, and roving water wagons were also made available to affected customers in other areas.

The service interruption and repairs had wide- ranging impacts.

Palolo Elementary School, Jarrett Middle School and Liholiho Elementary School each closed for the day due to a lack of water caused by the rupture. All three schools will be open today.

Waialae Charter Public School also was closed Thursday. Parents were advised to check the school’s website (waialae.edu) or Twitter account (@waialae) for updates on when the school would reopen.

The Department of Parks and Recreation closed Kane­wai Community Park and Palolo District Park but left the parking lot for Kanewai open overnight to accommodate area residents affected by the temporary loss of street parking.

Regularly scheduled trash pickup for residents on Dole Street also was delayed until after the repairs were completed.

At UH the parking structure at the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies was closed for several hours. And while water service to the campus was restored by 7:30 a.m., all restrooms, sinks and fountains on campus were shut down for more than an hour to help restore the minimum water pressure needed to properly operate toilets, according to a UHM administrative services email distributed to the campus community.

Kapiolani Community College also experienced low water pressure in the morning, but this did not affect normal operations.

By 5 p.m. water service had been restored to all affected areas except for St. Louis Heights, and BWS officials advised residents with restored service to continue using water sparingly “to allow the system to recover.”

Repairs to the main and subsequent repaving were expected to continue through the evening and into this morning, according to BWS. As of 7 p.m. Thursday, motorists entering St. Louis Heights were required to enter from St. Louis Drive. Those exiting St. Louis Heights had to exit from Frank Street, then turn left onto Dole Street to St. Louis Drive.