Rail contractor hits gas line, closing highway for 6 hours

A contractor’s crew for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation broke a gas line in Aiea on Thursday morning, touching off a six-hour traffic jam on Kamehameha Highway fronting Pearlridge Center and other commercial establishments.

Traffic on Kamehameha Highway was backed up after the lanes between Lipoa Place and Pali Momi Street in both directions were closed, starting at 9:45 a.m., because of the ruptured gas line. At about 4 p.m. police said it was safe, and Kamehameha Highway was reopened.

The break in the 8-inch line was reported after an excavator hit the utility line near Lipoa Place.

Two fire companies and a hazardous-materials team were dispatched to the scene.

Patrons at Anna Miller’s Restaurant, which is situated near the break, were told by firefighters that they could not leave the parking lot because it was cordoned off due to the risk of an explosion. Firefighter Brad Harrison with Hazmat 1 described the red-tape border as marking off the “lower explosive limit” levels.

Harrison said the area had to be cordoned off until the gas company could find and seal off the rupture in the line.

Shirley Ponciano of Kaimuki was at Anna Miller’s Restaurant and subsequently found herself unable to leave — her car was at the edge of the zone — to drive to work. “At least nobody’s hurt,” she said.

A spokesman for HART was not available for comment. HART contractors are handling construction work in the area for the city’s rail transit system.