U.S.224 reopens after gas line break

BOARDMAN — A busy commercial section of U.S. Route 224 reopened Friday evening after being shut down for nearly five hours due to a ruptured natural gas line.

Emergency crews closed about 1,000 feet of the road, west of South Avenue, Friday afternoon after a road construction crew punctured a gas line.

Paula Putnam, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation District 4, said the mishap occurred around 3 p.m. There was no explosion or fire and no injuries were reported. The work is to widen Route 224, adding turn lanes.

Putnam said traffic was being detoured to Southern Boulevard while 224 was closed.

Police Chief Patrick Berarducci said that the gas company arrived and tried to repair the puncture, but was initially unable. The company was trying to locate the gas shut-off valve, he said. “They’re monitoring the gas levels every 15 minutes and there’s been no problem,” Berarducci said.

The gas was shut off before the road reopened around 7:50 p.m.

The $5.8 million project to widen Route 224 with the addition of right-turn lanes from Boardman Park Drive to just west of South is expected to be complete in November 2010. It includes improvements to 15 traffic signals from Parkside Drive to Tiffany Boulevard.