Gas line break repaired on Iowa City’s First Avenue

UPDATE: IOWA CITY - A gas line break has been fixed at the intersection of First Avenue and Bradford Drive on Iowa City's east side, the city reported at 10:43 a.m. Traffic is now able to resume in the area.

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IOWA CITY - Iowa City police are warning drivers to avoid the intersection of First Avenue and Bradford Drive, on the southeast side, because of a gas line break around 8:15 a.m.

'It was hit by a third-party contractor doing work in the area,” said Ashton Newman, a spokeswoman for MidAmerican Energy. 'Crews are on scene and hope to make repairs in the next few hours.”

There are no power outages or evacuations because of the rupture, Newman said, but police are restricting access on First Avenue.

The incident is near where Iowa City is doing an $11 million project to bridge the train tracks over First Avenue. The road will slope down about 16 feet to have an unimpeded route under the tracks, which will be elevated about four feet. The work started in May 2015 and was expected to be complete late this year. First Avenue has been down to one lane in both directions since the project began.