Chapel Hill Fire: Lengthy Closure on W. Franklin Street Caused by Gas Leak

A gas leak needing extensive repairs caused a block of West Franklin Street to close in Chapel Hill on Saturday evening.

An alert from the Chapel Hill Fire Department to the community at 4:22 p.m. said the downtown road was closed from Mallette Street to Church Street due to a leak. Firefighters, Chapel Hill Police officers and a Dominion Energy crew responded to respectively shut the road down, divert traffic from the area and identify the leak.

An update more than an hour later told residents to expect the road to stay closed for several hours. Chapel Hill Fire tweeted that the repair would cause Dominion Energy to cut into Franklin Street and the odor of gas may be smelled around the downtown area as it was addressed. Shortly before 6:30 p.m., however, the leak was stopped. Chapel Hill Fire predicted the lanes would remain closed for about an hour more as the road was repaired.

In its initial message, Chapel Hill first responders encouraged those using or walking the road to detour along West Rosemary Street and Cameron Avenue to avoid the closure.

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

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