Traffic Alert: Douglas Avenue Gas Line Break

A gas line break is causing traffic problems near Merle Hay Mall.

Traffic was blocked off Thursday morning on Douglas Avenue near the mall, KCCI reported.

A construction crew's trenching machine hit the 6-inch gas line around 9 a.m.

MidAmerican crews were on scene to fix the gas line, but it could take several hours.

"It's pretty severe compared to something like a neighborhood where you have smaller lines. It's a bigger line, but we got it cornered off enough that it's not going to be an issue," District Chief Joe Giudicessi of the Des Moines Fire Department told KCCI.