Riverhead - Suffolk County Legislator
Ed Romaine and Riverhead Town Councilman Jim Wooten are calling on utility companies to remove damaged utility poles in a timely fashion. Romaine is co-sponsoring legislation at the county level while Wooten is proposing a resolution in Riverhead, which would require utility companies to remove damaged poles within 90 days of installation of a replacement.
Utility companies are regularly required to replace utility poles because of aging or damage. The process usually involves placing a new pole near the damaged pole, a practice known in the industry as "double wood."
However, the double wood phenomenon is increasing and is often left for long periods of time. There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of aesthetically unpleasant and potentially dangerous damaged poles lining Suffolk's roadways. In Riverhead alone there is close to 500.
"Double wood is more than an eyesore," said Legislator Romaine. "Damaged poles left standing for long periods of time pose a serious safety risk to motorists and pedestrians alike."
"Double wood should be in place only for a short period to allow utility companies a reasonable amount of time to move their equipment," said Councilman Wooten. "It is unnecessary to take more than 90 days to fix a damaged pole."
Guest (Denise) from East Hampton says:
This happened in front of my home years ago...the hold up in removing the damaged pole, was that not all users had changed their lines to the new pole. After several calls to the offending company went unanswered, I called the cable company who was dragging it's feet & started collecting names & informed them it was for the lawsuit that would most likely occur when a child was hurt by the broken pole, as it was a bus stop, which was true. Shortly thereafter the lines were changed & the pole was removed. It's a shame that I had to resort to these tactics, and that these companies are so negligent that this has to be legislated.