on widening plan
Overcoming a variety of setbacks ranging from delays caused by the April 27, 2011, tornadoes to the complications of everyday area traffic congestion, Cleveland Utilities electric crews have completed the vast power line rebuild along Peerless Road and Georgetown Road ... except for three remaining poles.
Placement of the final trio along Georgetown near the 20th Street intersection will be put on hold to allow Cleveland municipal engineers time to complete the surveying of the busy intersection to determine the feasibility of installing turn lanes on Georgetown to accommodate improved access to George R. Stuart Elementary School, according to Jimmy Isom, manager of engineering in the CU Electric Division.
“If this is the case, Cleveland Utilities is planning to accommodate this widening before completing the (power line) project,” Isom told members of the Cleveland Board of Public Utilities during a recent formal monthly session held in the Tom Wheeler Training Center.
Delaying placement of the final three poles until after city engineers complete the intersection review will avoid a relocation of the same poles later if the Georgetown and 20th Street area is realigned and widened to provide turn lanes.
Isom, who was making the divisional report on behalf of Electric Division Vice President Bart Borden, offered no timetable for when CU could resume its work at the intersection.
The utility initiative, which has been coordinated in two phases, was actually getting under way prior to the devastating tornadoes that ransacked 25 percent of the Cleveland Utilities power distribution grid 14 months ago. In order to expedite emergency repairs to the crippled system, CU was forced to use materials (mostly utility poles) that had been intended for the Peerless and Georgetown roads project.
This delayed the continuation of the power line replacement strategy because not only had the Peerless Road project lost its materials, but electric crews also were pulled off the initiative in order to work on storm repair. Several months ago crews returned to the exhaustive project and earned Borden’s praise during a board session in which he commended the workers for persevering through a variety of obstacles, including the day-to-day traffic congestion on Peerless Road and its Georgetown Road counterpart.
Total project cost is almost $630,000, according to Isom’s board report. Of this amount, $215,315 was for material acquisition, $313,435 was to fund Phase 1, and $100,600 was the cost for Phase II. Isom’s report described Phase II as being 90 percent finished. The remainder will be completed once city engineers determine if the Georgetown Road realignment and widening project is feasible.
In other Electric Division reports:
• The Freewill Road three-phase tie circuit from Triplett Circle to Campbell Bridge Road is progressing. All right-of-way clearing has been completed. Five needed property easements have been secured and construction is under way.
• Construction of the new three-phase overhead power line along Dry Valley Road to serve the new Cleveland Regional Jetport is finished. The line will remain inactive until the installation of a drain tile running parallel to the new line is completed by a Jetport contractor. This is the new power line that will service the new Jetport terminal.
• Work is continuing on the Appalachian Substation upgrade project. Work in preparation for the new control building was finished which included the rerouting of underground conduit, replacement of two 13KV breakers, installation of a new ground switch, power transformer servicing, and removal of old communication and control equipment.
• Line construction work has been completed in preparation for adding two additional 13KV circuits to the new Chatata Creek Substation. One of the new lines will serve Old Powerline Lane and eventually will tie into Minnis Road NE. The other circuit will serve Barney Lane to 20th St. NE. It will serve Cormetech and other businesses east of Cormetech on 20th Street and Barney Lane.
• A work order has been issued to install new facilities to serve Phase 3 of Stonebriar townhome development. The new addition will have nine lots with four-unit townhomes on each lot. The new addition will require 1,195 feet of underground primary conductor, 455 feet of secondary conductor and three 1-phase pad mounted transformers to meet electrical demand.
