Route 61 reopens after nearly 33 hours to repair gas leak
SAINT CLAIR — After being closed for nearly 33 hours due to the rupture of a UGI natural gas line, the north and southbound lanes of Route 61 were opened to traffic about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday, PennDOT announced.
John Mason, UGI spokesman, confirmed that damage to a high-pressure gas line has been repaired.
Morning and evening rush-hour traffic was disrupted on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning commuters continued to be detoured around the Route 61 construction site north of Saint Clair.
A contractor working for PennDOT on the highway realignment struck a high-pressure gas main about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. The incident happened near Dark Water Road in an area paralleling the highway, where crews are realigning water lines and other utilities as part of the Route 61 reconstruction.
A UGI crew on-site at the time of the incident was able to lower the pressure on the line, Mason said. Additional crews were brought in from other locations in UGI’s service area, including welders and engineers, and work was ongoing since the initial incident.
