May 6, 2003 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Ninth Street residents are not in favor of a state transportation department plan to relocate utility poles along the roadway as the move may translate into an increase in speed by those traveling through the area. “We need the new sidewalks, but leave the poles where they are at,” said resident William McCandless, during Monday’s public forum.

Mayor Judy Reed had coordinated the meeting to advise the homeowners of the impending sidewalk replacement project slated to begin in June and the relocation of the poles by the utility companies along the major artery.

However, the 15 residents in attendance readily chose to maintain the pole locations to moving them to the rear of the walkway as suggested by the state Department of Transportation.

McCandless said he has resided in the area for many decades and the utility poles have deterred motorists from excessive speeds along the southbound lanes of Route 119.

“They’re still going 40, 45 and 55 miles per hour, but they’d go even faster if the poles were moved,” he said.

The speed limit is 35 mph.

The plan, according to Dick Widmer, vice-president of Widmer Engineering, is to re-locate the 22 utility poles owned by Allegheny Power and Verizon from their present location within the 5-foot sidewalk into the highway right-of-way beyond the walkway.

The move, said Widmer, is a matter of safety.

“(PennDOT) believes there are too many accidents associated with the present location of the utility poles,” he said.

McCandless, however, said the transportation department should be more concerned about the homeowners.

“I’d rather (a motorist) hit the pole than hit my dog,” he said. “There’s only 12 feet between the curb and my front steps.

“Even with the pole there, I’ve still had someone hit my (front) steps.”

While Widmer speculated the highway occupancy permit the city has to obtain to replace the sidewalks might include the pole relocation, he said he would contact the department for additional information before the project gets underway.

“We may not have any choice,” he told the homeowners.

The sidewalk replacement project is being completed in coordination with a repaving project the state plans to undertake later in the summer along the north and southbound lanes of Route 119 and along Crawford Avenue.

Last year, the city set aside $100,000 to replace the sidewalk from the intersection of Crawford Avenue and Ninth Street to Graham Street in its state Community Development Block Grant allocation budget.

The city redevelopment authority that oversees the block grant funding expects a contract for the project to be awarded later this month.