Officials reopened Ventura Boulevard before the evening's commute. They tore up the street to fix the broken 12-inch main.
Water service was restored to the 95 affected customers.
The street was closed in both directions between Coldwater Canyon and Whitsett avenues for 12 hours.
Water gushed onto the busy street when the 82-year-old pipe ruptured about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
Department of Water and Power crews shut off the broken main. No homes or businesses suffered damage, but the broken pipe caused a sinkhole on the south side of Ventura Boulevard.
Mike Miller, DWP's East Valley superintendent, said crews also reported two water main breaks at Willis Avenue and Cohasset Street in Van Nuys and at Lankershim and Ventura boulevards in West Toluca Lake.
Officials said there have been several water main breaks in the area recently. The DWP says there's typically an increase when colder water enters the water system from the Eastern Sierra Nevada and shrinks the pipes.
"We call it leak season. Typically, in the winter time when the weather cools down, we see an uptick in the number of leaks we get," Miller said.
The water main break happened just a few blocks away from a massive break two years ago, when a 62-inch trunkline ruptured near Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Ventura Boulevard.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
