Mary Johnson Photo
About 4,100 Eversource customers are without electrical power this afternoon after a construction worker working near the town’s railroad station off Kirkham Street damaged a utility pole, causing the pole to crack in half.
It is not clear what the construction worker was doing when he damaged the pole but the state Department of Transportation has been at work for many months on a new North side platform.
It turns out this was the worst pole to hit because it was designed to carry two major circuits on the same pole.
Power went down in various sections of town, in the area of Kirkham and Maple Streets and in the Short Beach area and adjacent neighborhoods.
Power may be restored by 7 p.m., officials said. About 25 percent of all Eversource customers in Branford were hit by the power outage on what was a hot, sticky day.
State Rep. Lonnie Reed, the chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, was in touch with officials at Eversource. She said she was concerned that two major circuits were running on the same pole. “This has become of interest for the next legislative session,” she told the Eagle. “This is a logistical decision that needs to be revisited.”
Police have closed Kirkham Street from Main Street to the intersection of Maple Street and Indian Neck Avenue while repairs are underway.
A Cooling Center for the public has been established at the Branford Community Center, 46 Church St.
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