Gas Leak Shuts Down Portion of E. Main Street on Tuesday Afternoon

A gas leak at the Washington Street construction site shut down access to a portion of E. Main Street on Tuesday afternoon.

A reader alerted Lowell’s First Look to a strong smell of gas in the downtown near the street construction and noted that both a Consumers Energy truck and a Lowell Area Fire Department truck were on the scene.

Shortly thereafter, the Lowell Police Department posted on their Facebook page that the portion of E. Main Street from the Flat River to Jackson Street was closed to traffic.

Since then, the leak has been capped and the road reopened.

This article was updated at 3:20pm to add the following statement which was posted on the City of Lowell Facebook page:

The City of Lowell was advised that AT&T struck a gas line at Main and Washington St. Consumers Energy responded immediately and is working to contain the issue. The affected properties in the immediate area have been requested to evacuate and that process has been completed. We ask that people and vehicles avoid the area. We anticipate this will last approximately two hours. We will provide updates as necessary. Voting at City Hall is still open.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that the road has reopened.