Downtown gas leak closes road, causes TRAX delays

Authorities closed several blocks in downtown Salt Lake City on Thursday because of a gas leak that took more than six hours to locate. The problem was expected to be fixed for commuters by Friday morning.

The leak caused backups in afternoon traffic and for TRAX commuters.

Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Tom Burckhard said South Temple from 400 West to 200 West was closed at 4:30 p.m. because of the leak. No injuries were reported.

By 10:30 p.m., crews had located the leak — at 300 West and South Temple — and were doing a "small patch on it," said Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Reed Stringam.

The small leak was on a six-inch gas line buried about four feet underground. Crews had to dig through two layers of concrete to get to the pipe before they could begin searching for the leak.

Stringam said traffic in the area was affected all afternoon and would be until early Friday morning.

The cause of the leak is unknown. However, Stringam said crews noted there was a leak near the same area once before.

TRAX authorities said the leak caused service disruptions between the City Center stop and Salt Lake Central. Utah Transit Authority spokesman Gerry Carpenter said a bus bridge going from City Center and Salt Lake Central was put in place for commuters at the time of the leak and continued through the evening.

Tribune reporter Janelle Stecklein contributed to this story.

cimaron@sltrib.com

Twitter: @CimCity