Gas line strike forces Evans City Road closure
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — A high-pressure natural gas line was struck Thursday evening, forcing the closure of a busy stretch of Evans City Road during rush hour.
The strike occurred about 5 p.m. near the intersection of Evans City and Kriess roads, near the Honda North car dealership.
According to Lou Zimmerman, chief of the Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Company, the incident occurred during routine road maintenance on Pennsylvania State Route 68, of which Evans City Road is part.
“We have a secure zone of 350 feet in every direction,” Zimmerman said. “As a precaution, we evacuated the Honda North building.”
He said the closed section of Evans City Road spanned from the Stevenson Road intersection to the Whitestown Road intersection, a distance of 1.6 miles.
Kriess Road was detoured onto Buttercup Road.
Vehicles approaching the point of closure were forced to turn 180 degrees in the other direction, including a trailer carrying a mobile home with the words “oversize load” on the bumper.
Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Company, Butler Township Volunteer Fire District and Butler County Fire Police responded to the scene. A crew from Peoples Gas, whose gas line was struck, arrived by 5:45 p.m. to shut off the line.
“That's only something the gas company can do,” Zimmerman said. “It's a high-pressure gas line that’s running alongside the roadway.”
The road was reopened to traffic about 7:30 p.m.
