Some roads reopen after closures due to serious natural gas leak near Route 90

Some roads closed for hours on Tuesday, as Manitoba Hydro crews worked to repair a natural gas leak nearamajor Winnipeg route,have now reopened.

Emergency services closed King Edward Street (part of Winnipeg's Route 90) from Logan to Dublin avenues Tuesday morning due to what police called a "serious natural gas leak."

Police advised drivers to avoid a large area of Route 90between Selkirk and Notre Dame avenues, and surrounding areas between Keewatin Street and BuhrBoulevard. Buhris a short road thatruns north-south between Red River College and Brookside Cemetery.

By mid-afternoon, someroads reopened, though southbound Route 90 remained closed as of 3:30 p.m.

One commercial building was evacuated. AWinnipeg Transit bus was used as a temporary shelter for those peoplebutno injuries were reported,the City of Winnipegsaid in a Tuesday afternoon news release.

Manitoba Hydro crews spent hours repairing the leak.

Hydro spokesperson Bruce Owen said roads were closed out of an abundance of caution.

"The last thing you want is for any ignition source to ignite this gas," he said.

Someone in the area who smelled natural gas notified the Crown utility around 7:30 a.m., he said.

Hydro crews traced the source of the odour to a parking lot on Route 90 near Logan, where there area number of industrial businesses.There weren'tany known leaks inbuildings, though there were inthe sewer system, Owen said.

2nd gas leak on Rathgar

A crew began digging at the site to expose the pipe and stop the leak.Owen said in the morning hesuspected it could take hours for crews to repair the leak.

Hydro was already on scene when the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to the area around 10 a.m. and found natural gas readings were high in the area, the city's news release said.

WFPS said by mid-afternoon, thegas had begun safelyventilating into the atmosphere.

Fire crews also responded to another natural gas leak at a home on Rathgar Avenue Tuesday morning. They found gas leaking from an area that was recently excavated, and evacuated four nearby homes as a precaution.

Signs of a possible natural gas leak include the smell of rotten eggs, bubbling sounds in a ditch ot waterway, hissing sounds, seeing dirt blown up into the air or discoloured patches of vegetation, the city said.

Winnipeggers are encouraged to call 911 and leave an area immediatelyif they suspect natural gas is leaking nearby.