Repairs to a downtown Atlanta gas line near the Georgia State Capitol have been completed Thursday afternoon, a day after a leak forced a section of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to close.
Atlanta fire spokesman Anare Holmes said a crew struck a main gas line about five feet underground at Piedmont Avenue and MLK Drive, bordering the Capitol’s northeast side, at about 9 a.m. Wednesday. The Capitol was evacuated for several hours.
The fire department later said the “high-pressure gas leak” had the potential to lead to an explosion, but by 4 p.m., the leak was contained and the gas was shut off.
Atlanta Gas Light crews worked through the night and into Thursday afternoon to repair the line, company spokesperson Holly Lovett told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lovett said contractors are now working to clean and repave the excavation site on MLK Drive to have all lanes open soon.
“They should be wrapped up this evening with everything back to normal,” she said.
No injuries have been reported, Holmes said.
On Wednesday, at least three fire trucks and a dozen other vehicles from Atlanta Gas Light and Stake Center Locating, a contractor that works in underground utilities, occupied MLK Drive between Piedmont and Jesse Hill Jr. Drive for hours. About a dozen crew members and a half-dozen security were at the site as an excavator drilled into the road just feet away from the Capitol.
Holmes said the discovery of railroad tracks where crew members initially excavated prompted them to move sites and delay the repairs, which were initially expected to be completed by early Wednesday afternoon.
Credit: John Spink
Credit: John Spink
As cars exited the Connector onto MLK Drive, police directed motorists away from the Capitol and onto Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, where another construction project was underway near Georgia State University. Authorities said that project, just a block away, was unrelated to the gas leak.
Cars were bumper-to-bumper near the Capitol as people got off work. Michael Jordan, 33, had just finished his doctor’s appointment at Grady Memorial Hospital when he walked out to a traffic jam on Jesse Hill Jr. Drive around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
”I was waiting for 12 minutes and wondering why I wasn’t getting a Lyft,” the Decatur resident said.
”It’s not showing up,” Jordan said as he tried to refresh the Lyft app that was stuck on a page showing no available cars.
He said he didn’t know about the gas leak or construction happening just a couple of blocks down the street.
“Should we get back further, because all these people walking around don’t seem like they know (about the gas leak),” Jordan, who has a fractured left toe, said. “Am I going to have to try to hobble away if there’s some kind of explosion?”
Credit: John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta fire said that “residents may smell gas” due to high winds, but it said there was no immediate cause for concern.
MARTA shut down its East/West line for hours, eventually reopening the rail line at about 5 p.m. Wednesday. The Washington Presbyterian Church day care was also evacuated.
Credit: John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Department of Public Safety also responded. GDPS spokeswoman Courtney Lund called the Capitol evacuation a precaution.
“Vehicle and pedestrian traffic are being redirected around the affected area as Atlanta Fire and Atlanta Gas Light assess the line,” Lund said.
— Staff writers Caroline Silva and Henri Hollis contributed to this article.
About the Author
