Charlie Breitrose
A utility pole hangs precariously over Morse Street in the South End of Watertown.
A couple blocks off Galen Street on Morse Street sits a utility pole that has irked members of the Watertown Town Council.
The pole is actually a double pole – where an old pole fell or is about to fall and a new one is put up but where the old one has not been removed. The Town Council has worked with Watertown’s State Reps to try to get the utility and phone companies to remove these double poles more quickly.
The one on Morse Street is more than just an eyesore, however, said Town Councilor Cecilia Lenk, who represents the South End.
“It’s at a severe angle and appears to be about to come down in a storm or hit by a truck,” Lenk said. “It has been there over a year.”
Charlie Breitrose
A second double pole sits across the street from from one that has caught the attention of Watertown Town Councilors.
She brought up the pole to a representative from NStar who came infront of the Council to get approval to put in a wire to a new residential building on Pleasant Street.
Town Council President Mark Sideris also asked the NStar official to pass on word that the Town Council is unhappy about the precarious pole and he said he hoped not to have to bring it up the next time they came to the Council for approval of a project.
The NStar representative promised to pass on the message.
I totally agree with the Town Council’s distaste with NStar’s infrastructure. Morse Street is just one example of plenty of makeshift and downright ugly cityscapes complements of NStar. The distasteful views of sagging, leaning poles and makeshift hanging of wires around the town is common. As an Engineer I can appreciate the costs involved is doing the job right with minimal impact on our sight lines; but NStar (and others) seem to totally ignore any consideration of aesthetics and it’s impact on the town.
Thank you to the Counsilor Lenk, Counsil President Sideris and the entire Town Counsil for your attention to this public safety matter.
The pole on Morse Street was damaged about a year ago when a garbage truck hit the wires, damaged three poles while tearing the electric service off several houses. (Two poles pictured on Morse Street and the other is on North Park St. ). There must be a report of this incident at the Police and/or Fire adepts. N Star restored power to the neighborhood relatively quickly at which time we were told that replacing the broken poles “was on the list”.
A few questions: 1. Why isn’t the trash contractor held responsible for paying to have the poles fixed in a timely manner? Don’t the have insurance? 2) Aesthetics aside, the attached pole hangs into the street at an angle that would be no shock if another truck hit the wires or the pole. Do we have to wait for another accident before it is fixed? 3) How long is “the list”?
For the record, a similar accident happened nearby on Fifth Ave in 2007. The utility company attached half a pole and promised to cone back. We are still waiting.