Dominion backs off plans to build gas line along popular Triangle trail

Dominion Energy has backed off a proposal to build a new natural gas line along part of the American Tobacco Trail, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

This would make way for a 12-inch natural gas line.

After WRAL News and other media outlets asked about the project, which local government leaders said they were unaware of until late in the process, the DOT said it would re-evaluate the proposal. On Tuesday, Dominion said it will focus on another route instead.

"After careful evaluation, we have determined that the route paralleling the American Tobacco Trail is not our preferred route," Dominion spokeswoman Persida Montanez said in an email Tuesday. "In the coming weeks we will be working to finalize the details of a route that will lie primarily within existing road rights-of-way."

A map of the new route wasn't immediately available.

The full project would run 13 miles from Wake County into Orange County, Dominion has said.

"This critical project would allow for the reduction of pressure of 73 miles of existing natural gas lines in Orange, Chatham, Lee and Wake counties," Montanez said Tuesday. "Lowering the pressure of these existing gas lines will prolong their lifespan, enhancing the reliability and safety of our system in accordance with regulations."