Road reopens after Hicksville gas leak

Both lanes in each direction of West John Street at Burns Avenue in Hicksville have reopened after the street was closed Tuesday morning because of a natural gas leak, Nassau County police said.

National Grid workers had turned off a couple of valves to make the repair, which "fortunately did not result in any interruption to service," said a spokeswoman. She first expressed hope the repair would be done by noon, but later said work crews were expected to finish by 6 p.m.

The call about the gas leak came in at 8:25 a.m., police said.

A backhoe struck a gas line, firefighters responded and have since left the scene, according to the Hicksville Fire Department.

In an unrelated incident Tuesday morning, northbound Long Beach Road in Island Park was closed between Newport Road and Ostend Avenue because of gas leak repairs, police said.

A contractor hit a gas main, which was "made safe at 10:10 a.m.," there were no service interruptions and the road has since reopened, the National Grid spokeswoman said.