Internet company contractors hit gas line while digging to install fiber lines in Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The work to bring more fiber-driven internet options to residents of the City of Alexandria has hit a bump in the road — literally. It’s a temporary problem but one that’s got neighbors feeling frustrated.

The issue is with the work being done to cut trenches in the street to lay fiber for internet service for the City of Alexandria.

The subcontractors for Ting Internet who are doing the work accidentally cut into gas lines buried beneath the street — most recently on Wednesday.  It's been fixed, inspected and paved over but because of that, the City of Alexandria has ordered the work put on hold for now.  

Crews today are filling holes and patching up what's not been completed. People have concerns about the danger the severed gas lines present. Some were stranded in their homes while the fire department told them not to start their car engines while the gas was leaking.  

The city of Alexandria told FOX 5, "As a result of these safety concerns, the City has asked Ting and the company has agreed that the micro-trenching operation will be stopped immediately until a plan of action is developed by Ting to address these concerns and the action plan is presented to the City for approval."

Residents like PJ Crowley are understandably frustrated.

"The dilemma for the company is their first contact here is a subcontractor who’s tearing up street, you know, and occasionally hitting a gas line and the danger for the company is by the time we get to the decision whether to subscribe to the service everyone’s going to be angry at the company and they’re going to have underwhelming results," Crowley said. 

Ting shared images with FOX 5, saying it has paused construction for a week to ensure they are moving forward safely.  They say the company wants to provide more state-of-the-art internet service options to city residents. 

Going on to say in a statement to FOX 5, they added, "It’s important to us that our fiber deployment is done according to the standards we all expect, so we are reviewing both our internal processes and those of our subcontractors, to ensure we meet that standard moving forward." 

 People who live in the area have also been upset by the inconvenience of street parking restrictions that have been imposed and, at times, have not matched up with when the work is being done. 

There’s no official word when the work will resume.