MURFREESBORO, TN (WGNS) – If you were traveling W. Northfield Boulevard near Memorial around lunchtime Tuesday (7/7/2026), you probably noticed things got unusually quiet. All lanes of traffic were shut down between Middle Tennessee Christian School Rd. and Heritage Park Dr. for roughly two hours.
A spokesperson at Minuteman Press told WGNS NewsRadio that crews had been working in the public access area beside the sidewalk for several days. He said a backhoe was being used Tuesday morning, and suddenly ATMOS Energy crews arrived, followed quickly by Murfreesboro Police as well as Fire‑Rescue. Around 11:30AM, firefighters closed every lane on the divided roadway as a precaution.
Traffic backed up fast, but Murfreesboro Police stepped in to divert drivers away from the area. Fire crews staged a few hundred feet from where workers were feverishly digging and repairing whatever had gone wrong. The business owner described it as a sudden flurry of activity — one moment routine construction, the next a full‑scale response…