Crews finish the work of replacing more than century old gas main on Penn Avenue between Pacific Avenue and Evaline Street.

By Jamie Kelly, Bulletin editor
The monthslong work by People’s Gas on Penn Avenue between Evaline Street and 45th Street affected businesses and residents in a variety of ways.
As one phase of the work starts to wrap up and the third phase “” between 45th and 39th streets, they took the chance to share some of their concerns.
The work
In early 2024, People’s Gas started work to replace a gas line from the 1880s that runs under Penn Avenue. The first phase covered Roup Avenue to Evaline Street and finished in summer 2024, when the second phase began.
The work involved removing and replacing a 24-inch gas line that was more than 100 years old. People’s Gas said the replacement was an essential part of the company’s work to reduce greenouse gas emissions, in addition to modernizing infrastructure.
The impact
The work generally proceeded one block at a time, normally closing one lane, but occasionally requiring the entire road to be closed and drivers to detour onto neighborhood streets to get around the work.
Business owners felt a pinch when traffic and parking was restricted. Jack Ball, owner of Bantha Tea Bar, 5002 Penn Ave., said smaller businesses like his were hurt.
“It’s difficult for micro-businesses like us and others to do well while they close up the street and have no place to park on Penn Avenue when they take over,” he said. “I understand what they need to do but Peoples Gas was given a lot of time and opportunity to do this earlier than now.”
Some people, like resident Chris Harrison, saw the work as leading to a positive outcome, even if there was difficulty along the way.
“We can’t simultaneously complain about old, decaying infrastructure and the annoyance of construction to upgrade it,” he said. “Some degree of pain is required and acceptable. However, I think People’s Gas did a particularly poor job engaging with the community over the past six or so months, and the street is absolutely trashed. For many of us, Penn Avenue is our home, our livelihood, or both. I’m looking forward to the restoration process, and the utilities companies have promised us it will be put back together in a “condition equal to or better than that which existed prior to construction” as the City’s code requires.”
Nick Paradise, external communications director for People’s Gas, said communication could be difficult at times, especially as the project was wrapping up.
“Now that we are in the process of connecting into the newly installed main pipeline and switching over the customer service lines to the new pipeline on Penn Avenue, the work is more challenging to forecast ahead of time which locations crews will be in,” he said. “The work area and scope changes daily, based on factors such as the weather, safety practices, and what was accomplished the day before. While the approach we are taking to prepare customer service lines on Penn Avenue and side streets to be tied in to the new line is more involved today than if we were to go block by block, it will also speed up the tie-in process, allowing us to finish sections faster and leave the area. Going block by block could extend the tie-in process by as much as two to three weeks. The decision to take this approach was made after consultation with the contractors on which approach would be least disruptive over the coming weeks.”
Nina Barbuto, executive director of Assemble, worried about the people who live on Penn Avenue.
“I think the worst part of the constant construction on and around Penn Avenue has been the deep lack of consideration for everybody who lives and works here,” she said. “At Assemble, we have had to cancel after school due to the lack of water pressure with no notice. I am so worried about the elders that live above us who have medical conditions and need water or a way to plan for a backup. It’s becoming a health problem.”
Paradise said the hope was the long-term benefit would be worth the short-term inconvenience.
“We understand the challenges that pipeline replacement can cause for businesses and the community at large,” he said. “We have taken efforts throughout to minimize disruptions as much as possible, restrict operations to ease access for special events in the business district, and communicate proactively with those impacted as much as possible. Replacing these pipelines on Penn Avenue is important for the long-term safety of the community, delivering essential energy for decades to come. Once the construction process is completed, we will restore streets, sidewalks and other affected areas to their prior condition. We thank the community for their patience and understanding during this process.”
What’s next
The pipeline work in finished between Evaline and 45th streets, but there is still more happening. In addition to the third phase, which was supposed to begin in mid April, People’s Gas is responsible for repairing and restoring the road surface and sidewalks affected by the construction.
For now, however, the restoration work is on hold while People’s and the city coordinate to create a plan.