Gas Line Rupture Closes Lankershim

A natural-gas leak forced the closure of Lankershim Boulevard on Saturday and temporarily derailed a test run of the new MTA subway line, a city fire spokesman said.

Workers using a backhoe to install electrical lines for a new traffic signal accidentally sheered off the valve of a 4-inch gas main about 8:40 a.m. in the 3900 block of Lankershim, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. No one was injured. But as a precaution, Lankershim was closed to traffic in both directions between Valley Heart Drive and Ventura Boulevard. The northbound Lankershim exit on the Ventura Freeway also was closed, Humphrey said.

Trains being tested for the new Metro Red Line subway station, scheduled to open in North Hollywood in two weeks, were stopped while the gas line was being repaired.

“We just wanted to make sure none of the gas had blown in there,” Humphrey said. “The danger was perceptible but not severe.”

Repair crews fixed the leak, and the street was reopened to traffic about 12:50 p.m.