Broken gas line shuts down part of Richmond Highway for more than 2 hours

June 15, 2016 Transportation

A bad week for commuters in the Richmond Highway corridor continued this morning when a construction crew working near Fort Belvoir struck a gas line, forcing Route 1 to be shut down in both directions.

The incident happened around 10 a.m. in the 9100 block of Richmond Highway, according to the Fairfax Police. It forced the closure of the road from Telegraph Road to Jeff Todd Way until approximately 1 p.m. The delays affected car travelers as well as bus riders, as certain stops were required to be skipped due to the closure.

The gas main broke when a contractor performing road work inadvertently struck it, according to Jim Monroe, a spokesman for Washington Gas. No evacuations were necessary, and the gas line was shut off shortly after Washington Gas’s crew arrived, Monroe said.

The road closure marked the second time in two days that a major artery in the area was shut down. On Tuesday, a fatal accident involving a tour bus closed the George Washington Parkway from around 5 p.m. until early this morning.

This story was updated at 4:05 p.m. with information from a Washington Gas representative.