Drivers are asked to avoid the area around St. Matthews Avenue and Empress Street on Friday morning after a major natural gas leak Thursday night, but Manitoba Hydro says power in the area is now fully restored.
The leak, which was first detected at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, caused the evacuation of the Polo Park Shopping Centre and several businesses in the area. At its peak, power was out for 20,000 Hydro customers in a wide area.
Shortly after 7:30 a.m. Friday, Manitoba Hydro said on Twitter that power had been restored for all of those customers.
The corporation had said earlier power was restored to nearly everybody by 6:30 a.m., except for the Home Depot, Toys R Us and the old Target building in the area, which were kept dark for safety as crews monitored gas levels.
At 11:15 a.m., Hydro posted the evacuation of Polo Park had been lifted and gas levels were safe.
Shortly before 8 a.m., Empress was still closed from Maroons Road to Ellice Avenue, and St. Matthews was closed from Milt Stegall Drive to Strathcona Street.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mboutage?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mboutage</a> update: Evacuation in Polo Park area has been lifted. Gas levels are safe. All customers have power restored. On behalf of <a href="https://twitter.com/cityofwinnipeg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cityofwinnipeg</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/wpgpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wpgpolice</a>, and our crews, we appreciate your patience as we've dealt with this emergency situation.
—@manitobahydroTRAFFIC UPDATE: EMPRESS is closed from ELLICE south to MAROONS ROAD, and ST. MATHEWS is closed from MILT STEGALL DR. east to STRATHCONA. Due to a gas leak.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WpgTMC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WpgTMC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/winnipeg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#winnipeg</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/traffic?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#traffic</a> <a href="https://t.co/qloorF2ETh">pic.twitter.com/qloorF2ETh</a>
—@WinnipegTMC