Underground Incident Causes Traffic Congestion In Downtown Louisville

By Business First of Louisville

An underground fire has led to the closure of several intersections in downtown Louisville and the loss of power to more than 300 customers of LG&E and KU Energy LLC.

Chris Whelan, director of communications for LG&E, said an underground electrical fire that started at about 7:30 a.m. caused the problem. The fire resulted in smoke coming from manhole covers and early reports of an explosion.

As a result, Louisville Metro Police and the Louisville Fire Department closed intersections and evacuated some businesses, according to Dwight Mitchell, public information officer for Louisville Metro Police.

Intersections at First and Main streets and at Second and Market streets were closed, Mitchell said. As a result, traffic backed up on the Clark Memorial Bridge into downtown and along Market, Main and Second streets.

Whelan said the company had about 340 customers without power as of about 9:45 a.m., and the company hopes to have their power restored as crews assess the damage and make repairs.

The outage is affecting businesses along Market, Jefferson and Liberty streets, just east of downtown. Most customers are expected to have power restored Tuesday.

Whelan said that although the company has not determined what started the fire or the extent of the damage, underground electrical fires are not uncommon.

“It’s electrical equipment,” she said. “Just like anything in your house, it can go bad. … We hate when it happens because it affects traffic and our customers.”

Copyright 2011 American City Business Journals

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