Gas leak fixed at Highway 36-Rice Street Construction Site

A  section of Rice Street at Highway 36 in Roseville was temporarily shutdown Thursday afternoon after a piece of construction equipment punctured a six-inch gas pipe at the work site, city fire officials reported.

Roseville police and fire closed  the on-and-off ramps from Highway 36 at Rice Street and shut down Rice Street, from Elmer Street to Minnesota Avenue, as a safety precaution while crews from Xcel Energy shut down the line for repairs, said city Fire Chief Tim O’Neill. The gas pipe leak occurred at Rice Street and County Road B.

The street and ramp shutdown occurred from about 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., O’Neill said. “There was no explosion, just gas venting,” he  said. The fire Department had a  truck on the scene.

Patti Nystuen, a spokeswoman for Xcel Energy, said the utility company completed the gas pipe repair at 1:17 pm. Thursday without incident.  There was no evacuation or interruption to customer service, she said. 

Currently, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is in the midst of $16.6 million bridge and ramp improvement project at Highway 36 and Rice Street.  The project is scheduled to be completed by this November, said Breanna  Magee, a MnDOT spokesperson.