LEXINGTON, S.C. — Traffic is flowing again in Lexington County after mandatory evacuations and road closures following a gas main break on Thursday afternoon.
Both directions of I-20 are now open and both outbound and one lane inbound of Augusta Road/US-1 have reopened, according to Lexington Police around 11 p.m.
Lexington Police said the break happened in the area of Augusta Road/US 1 and I-20. The County of Lexington's Twitter account said a total of four businesses were evacuated and one home was put under a shelter-in-place order until the gas line is repaired.
Dominion Energy said a 6-inch, steel natural gas line broke in the area around 2 p.m. in a location near U.S. 1 and I-20. Dominion said a third-party contractor doing excavation work accidentally struck a natural gas line.
The company said crews are on the scene working to fix the rupture and will continue until repairs are completed.
It's still unclear precisely what location the break happened or whether it took place at a business or home.
In response, that general area was closed to traffic, along with a six-mile stretch of I-20 East from Exit 55 to Exit 61.
Traffic on I-20 was detoured through the Town of Lexington from Sunset Boulevard and South Lake Drive. Meanwhile, Augusta Road traffic was detoured at Cedarcrest Drive and Cedar Drive/Dooley Road.
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People are asked to be patient and drive with caution while emergency personnel continue to work the scene.