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Utility poles next to road are safety issue
(by Joan Demirjian - February 10, 2010)
Utility poles next to road are safety issue
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
A matter of whether utility poles are too close to the roadway and pose a safety hazard on Savage Road in Bainbridge remains in question.
Savage Road is a 1.2-mile link between Chagrin Road and East Washington Street. It recently was widened and resurfaced.
Bainbridge Road Superintendent Wally Rudyk recently told Township Trustees that some of the poles are so close to the road they could be a hazard. Reflective signs were placed on some of the poles by the road department, but someone could go off the road and hit one, he said.
He said the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. was to have moved them back from the road, but many have not been relocated.
"I would like to see them moved so they won't be so close to the road," Mr. Rudyk said.
There are no other places in the township where utility poles are so close, he said.
"We try to keep the poles to the back side of the ditch," Mr. Rudyk said. "That's where we would like to have them."
He said he would talk to Township Trustees and ask for a letter to be sent to CEI officials.
Geauga County Engineer Robert L. Phillips said discussions on the location of the poles have taken place with CEI. "We talked about what poles were to be moved. The county served as manager of the road-improvement project. Part of that is to deal with the utilities during the project," he said.
Originally, certain poles were to be moved. When they were not, the county kept the road closed for the winter of 2009, Mr. Phillips said. "It was kept closed until we felt comfortable moving forward."
Then the Geauga County Prosecutor's Office advised the township there was no liability for the township and the road could be opened.
"We have reached the point where the prosecutor said there is no liability on the township's part," Mr. Phillips said.
With that information, the road was opened in late spring 2009. The prosecutor said if there would be any liability, it would be on the part of the utility company, Mr. Phillips said.
While CEI has constraints and has a budget, the utility company was notified in 2006 that the project was to start in 2008, Mr. Phillips said. "We had hoped they would have addressed the issues as part of the project."
There are still some poles within a few feet of the paved shoulder, and there is a "clear zone" that should be adhered to by removal of all obstructions, he said. However, utilities are not necessarily an obstruciton, he said.
"It would be nice if they were not there, but there is no real requirement that they not be there," Mr. Phillips said.
Mia Moore, external affairs manager for CEI, said several poles on Savage Road had been relocated, moving them back from the right of way.
CEI representatives had a meeting with the Geauga County Engineer's Office in December and at that time, the matter of the Savage Road poles came up, Ms. Moore said.
"We learned from the county that the project is complete but for one pole. They wanted it relocated. And we just go word from the county that we don't need to relocate that pole," she said. "So we are done.
"Our engineers design for public safety, and this was a county project," Ms. Moore said.
"We were working with the county engineer's office, and we built to their design. As of last week, we were released from the job," she said. "Everything is complete."
As of this week, the township has not asked CEI to do anything more, she said. "But I am happy to work with the public entities."
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