A gas leak on Sooke Road near Royal Roads University affected traffic on the West Shore on Wednesday morning.
Emergency crews were able to shut off the gas at around 9:30 a.m. No homes or businesses were evacuated.
The gas line was struck across the street from Westshore Centre for Learning and Training’s Colwood campus, at the construction site of a new housing complex.
“An excavator hit a two-inch line which resulted in the response from Colwood [Fire Rescue] and Fortis,” said Fire Chief John Cassidy. “We’ve had to shut down all four lanes of Sooke Road while Fortis does remote digs to crimp off the lines and shut off the gas supply.”
Sooke Road was closed to traffic between Mt View and Aldeane avenues, with an alternative route available. The roadway partially reopened to traffic at around 10 a.m.
Cassidy noted it took crews more than an hour to shut off the line. “It was a two-inch line that was hit but it snubbed off a double fed six-inch line which resulted in Fortis having to pull out a lot of resources … it was quite an involved situation.”
Cassidy thanked drivers for the patience and for following the direction of firefighters. “Everything actually went really smooth this morning.”
No one was injured.
