CHESAPEAKE, Va. — On Friday evening, traffic came to a crawl after a contractor hit an underground natural gas line along Cedar Road near Rise Church in Chesapeake.
According to the city's fire department, earlier that day a contractor struck an underground natural gas line in the 900 block of Cedar Road, which is in the Great Bridge area.
No surrounding businesses or residents were affected, and there were no injuries, a fire department spokesperson said. Virginia Natural Gas is also monitoring air quality in that area.
While businesses did not have to close, the gas leak impacted people’s commutes, particularly during Friday's afternoon rush hour. People living in nearby neighborhoods said that they could smell the gas.
“I was with my best friend, and she said that she couldn’t smell it, but then it was just kind of like, whiff,” said Karen Rogers, who noticed the smell while she was in her backyard.
The gas leak caused drivers heading eastbound on Cedar Road to detour onto Waters Road while westbound traffic was detoured onto Bells Mills Road as crews worked to repair the leak.
Although traffic came to a crawl, not all drivers were impacted badly by the detours.
“I didn’t really mind, honestly,” said Emily Kouba, who commutes and lives nearby. “I don’t think... maybe [it] added an extra minute tops, but it wasn’t bad at all.”
Eastbound lanes reopened around 9 o'clock Friday night. Officials said westbound lanes are scheduled to reopen sometime on Saturday.