Superhospital, 8,000 homes see power cut after gas leak
Underground line punctured, forcing road closures
The McGill University Health Centre superhospital and 8,000 households were without power while hundreds of motorists were detoured Monday, all apparently because of work being done in front of one house on Girouard Ave.
City spokesperson Audrey Gauthier said a crew was hooking up a private home to the city’s sewer system, and while the work doesn’t usually force a whole city block to close, the city had no choice in this case, in order to ensure safety.
The work forced the closure of the street from Monkland Ave. north to Terrebonne St., in an area already hampered by street repairs and work on the Turcot Interchange.
Two streets east, Coolbrook Ave. was closed for construction. There is also work underway nearby on Harvard, Marcil, Clanranald, Royal and Kensington Aves.
On Girouard, which is a main route to Highway 15 and the Champlain Bridge, workers apparently hit a gas line Monday morning, according to a warning on Twitter from the Montreal Fire Department.
A Hydro- Québec spokesperson said the utility was asked to cut power to the area just after 11:30 a.m. as a preventive measure because crews working on Girouard Ave. punctured an underground gas line, causing it to leak.
The blacked-out area was roughly bordered by Cavendish Blvd., Côte- St-Luc Rd., Décarie Blvd. and Notre-Dame-de- Grâce Ave., and included the superhospital.
Power was restored to the area at around 12:30 p.m. By 1 p.m., there were several Énergir trucks on the scene, but no crews appeared to be doing any work there. The street remained closed.
Marlene Monzano, the manager of the Au Premier hair salon, said the power was restored fairly quickly, even though crews had told her it would be out for more than two hours.
“It was less than an hour, so we’re happy with that,” she said.
It’s difficult for customers to get to the salon, she said, with all the surrounding road closures, but she pointed out that the area is well served by public transit.
Gauthier said on Monday evening that a very deep trench remained in front of the house on Girouard north of Monkland, so the street will reopen sometime on Tuesday.