Update: Jesse Jewell Parkway has reopened.

Delays are expected on Jesse Jewell Parkway through Friday afternoon as crews address an emergency repair as part of a larger project to relocate utilities under the roadway.

Multiple lanes of Jesse Jewell were closed at West Avenue after an AT&T duct bank — which protects and consolidates cables — was accidentally struck.

Linda MacGregor, director of the City of Gainesville Water Resources, said the duct bank had not been located properly. 

It was struck late Wednesday, Jan. 16, while the contractor was performing a jack and bore, a method of horizontal boring for sewer construction, under Jesse Jewell. 

“It became necessary on Thursday for the contractor and AT&T to uncover the duct bank to assess the damage and plan the emergency repair,” MacGregor said. “The replacement was shipped overnight on Thursday and is being repaired now.”

The initial construction was a part of relocating utilities in advance of a Queen City Parkway and Jesse Jewell intersection improvement.

Robert Simmons, civil engineer with Gainesville’s water resources department, said the project includes adding turn lanes to the intersection.

Simmons expected AT&T workers to have finished repairing the telephone line by 1 p.m. Friday. 

Over the course of the day, he said a contractor will fill in the hole with stone and plate it so cars can safely travel over it. 

Simmons said all closed lanes on Jesse Jewell Parkway should open by 5 p.m. Friday.