Gas Pipeline Ruptured in Midway District

A gas leak snarled lunchtime traffic in the Midway District on May 1.

As police and fire department personnel blocked the area off, safety officials ordered brief evacuations of the Sports Arena Home Depot store and a Broken Yolk restaurant across the street.

At around 1:40 p.m., according to SDG&E, "a one-inch service pipe located above ground was ruptured and possibly struck by a vehicle, though no one was at the site when crews arrived for repairs."

A Broken Yolk diner at the scene told me that people in the restaurant could see the gas shooting up across the street from the broken pipe and outside "it smelled really bad."

The entire 3500 block of Midway Drive — between Kemper and Fordham Streets — was cordoned off as SDG&E repairmen sliced a hole through Midway Drive asphalt to gain access to the pipeline.

The leak was reported by SDG&E crews to be under control by 2:50 p.m., but repair trucks remained on the scene until nightfall.