NORFOLK, Va. — A gas leak shut down the busy Hampton Boulevard Wednesday afternoon, officials confirmed — right in the middle of rush hour.
Traffic is now back open in both directions with two of the northbound lanes still closed. The closure caused headaches for both drivers and business owners.
The leak happened at the intersection with Lexan Avenue, and it stopped traffic between there and Manchester Avenue. It was caused by a subcontractor hitting a gas main, city officials said.
Keith Taylor, a resident on Manchester Avenue, said the leak complicated his route to work.
“Yeah, I was about to take that direction, but now I guess I’m going to cut through the neighborhood, which I assume is a going to get really piled up in the next several hours so,” Taylor said.
The leak originally affected just the northbound lanes of Hampton Boulevard, as well as Lexan Avenue to Hampton Boulevard, according to a spokesperson for the Norfolk Department of Fire-Rescue. Shortly after, the southbound lanes closed, too.
“Honestly, I was just going to wait out it out cause there was almost no point. In going down Jamestown Crescent to Colley and everything," said Heather Riddler, who was driving.
Drivers weren't the only ones affected by the leak. Local businesses felt the nuisance, too.
Jason Witt, the owner of Waters Edge Winery and Bistro on Hampton Boulevard, said he had to close early because of the gas leak.
“My chef came out and said hey, I think I’m smelling some gas in the back of the kitchen we went back there and sure enough I’m smelling it and I look out the front window and there is just a plume of smoke just a volcano of gas shooting up," Witt said.
Witt said that they had to evacuate people from the restaurant amid the chaos.
"People were trying to exit towards there cars and we couldn’t allow that so we evacuated everybody out our patio, people were sitting on the patio right in the middle of there dinners or there lunches. It was scary,” Witt said.
Despite the disruption, Witt said he's ready to get back to business. He and his employees have everything they need to open on time tomorrow.
For the latest road conditions across Hampton Roads, visit 13News Now's Traffic page.