UPDATE: The Town of Chapel Hill and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard reopened to normal traffic patterns shortly before 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Chapelboro is still awaiting details of the gas leak from Enbridge Gas.
One of Chapel Hill’s main thoroughfares is facing a closure Wednesday evening due to a gas leak.
Drivers and community members shared with Chapelboro that traffic was being stopped around 5:45 p.m. along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Shortly after, the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County Sheriff’s Office shared alerts saying a gas leak led law enforcement to close the road in both directions between Estes Drive and Ashley Forest Road. No evacuations have been ordered as of 6 p.m., according to town officials.
Chapel Hill urged community members in the Ashley Forest Road neighborhood to access Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as normal by turning northbound. Those in the Timber Hollow Apartment Homes and Shadowood Apartments & Lofts communities, however, are urged to only come and go only by traveling east on Piney Mountain Road, as MLK Boulevard will be closed at the intersection. Other traffic is encouraged to detour the MLK Boulevard corridor where possible.
Chapel Hill Transit said it would be detouring routes that use that stretch of MLK Boulevard, and riders should prepare for delays.
Chapelboro is awaiting a response from Enbridge Gas, the main gas provider in the area, for confirmation of the leak’s source and updates on repairs.
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