Mooresville highway reopens after line break causes closure

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Crews responded to a gas line break in Mooresville that shut down a stretch of highway on Friday morning.

First responders shut down a portion of N.C. Highway 150 after a gas line broke in the area where the N.C. Department of Transportation is widening a 16-mile stretch of the road.

Chopper 9 Skyzoom was over the scene and saw a backhoe situated over top of a pipe that had a gas spewing out.

Officials told Channel 9’s Dave Faherty that the major break was in a line that was about eight inches in diameter.

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Next door to the line break is Randy Marion Chevrolet Cadillac. Officials told Channel 9 that the building was evacuated and that everyone is safe.

The spewing gas spread Carolina red dirt into the air and covered the dealership’s sign and vehicles in dirt.

Multiple other nearby businesses were evacuated, including Mooresville Golf Range, about 100 yards away from the break, according to officials at the store.

“We heard the sound, and at first I was like that’s a pretty loud sound,” said manager Corky Trutza. “Next thing I know, fire guys are knocking on the door.”

Enbridge Gas said it took an hour and a half to get the gas cut off to make the repairs.

The gas stopped leaking from the line after 11:30 a.m. The highway reopened before 1 p.m. Friday.

But workers at nearby businesses told Faherty that the shutdown caused heavy traffic.

“Traffic was really bottlenecked all across town,” said Reilly Brown, a worker at Luck 13 Tattoo Studio. “So I was on 21 trying to get to 150, and it was standstill traffic. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

NCDOT said it is widening the highway to three lanes in each direction and improving the Interstate 77. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2030 with a price tag of $249 million.

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