DANVILLE, Va. – Memorial Drive from Park Avenue to Central Boulevard is now open. Memorial Drive has been reduced to one lane in each direction of travel at the intersection with Primrose Place.

The busy thoroughfare was closed in  both directions at the intersection Monday afternoon after high winds downed power lines, sparking a small fire and knocking out power to about 1,000 customers.

While traffic is moving in one direction, Primrose Place from Memorial Drive to Primrose Court remains closed to through traffic.

The lane restrictions on Memorial Drive at Primrose Place and the closure of Primrose Place to through traffic will remain in place until Danville Utilities completes overhead power line repairs on Tuesday morning.

High winds left 1,000 Danville Utilities customers without power Monday and another 1,000 were off line in the Whitmell area. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph downed limbs, trees and power lines.

More than 1,000 Franklin County customers were without power at the height of the windstorm. Appalachian Power reported wind-related power outages in several counties Monday afternoon. Several hundred customers lost power in each Patrick, Henry and Campbell, with more outages reported in the town of Bedford.

Photo courtesy River City TV