ISP: ‘Damaged’ gas line shuts down I-94 in Portage

PORTAGE, Ind. — A damaged gas line in Portage, Indiana caused dangerous air conditions and temporarily shut down Interstate 80/94 lanes Tuesday evening.

Authorities say crews were underground drilling when they hit a gas line. As a safety precaution, authorities evacuated local business AmeriPlex at the Port.

While delays lasted several hours, all I-80/94 east and westbound lanes have since reopened.

Amid the gas leak, I-94 was closed in both directions (S.R. 249 and exit 22 Burns Harbor) near Bass Pro Shop. Citing fears that passing cars could spark flames due to gas on the expressway, law enforcement closed roadways in the area.

“It’s been quite a while since we’ve had to deal with a gas leak of this magnitude,” said Portage Fire Chief Chris Crial. “It was a relatively large line. Hopefully, things open up pretty quickly.”

Troopers asked motorists to use alternate routes, noting the Indiana Toll Road as the best option for commuters. Police asked drivers to avoid US-12 and US-20, which was gridlocked.

“Gas monitoring has been taking place at the scene, south of the scene in the direction of the wind travel,” Crial said. “Confident the public is safe, and as long as conditions stay the same, there will be no other concerns. This is something that we train for and we have good connections with NIPSCO and we handled it as efficiently as we could.”

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NIPSCO , the Northern Indiana Public Service Company, also monitored air quality and provided an update Tuesday evening:

“Gas flow to the damaged section of pipe has now been terminated successfully and traffic is moving once again. Our crews have begun making repairs to the damaged section of pipe. We’d like to thank the community for their patience during this incident.”

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