Route 9 reopened after truck snags powerlines, snaps utility poles
A section of Route 9 in Framingham, Massachusetts, was shut down for most of Wednesday after a truck snagged power lines and snapped utility poles, Eversource said. The city, however, blames the mess on a transformer explosion. The incident happened at about 7:50 p.m. in the area of 121 Worcester Road, which is Route 9, causing damage to telephone poles and overhead wires spanning the roadway, police said. Route 9 remained closed until approximately 3:30 p.m.Eversource said a truck traveling along Route 9 snagged low-hanging communications cables, which brought down two utility poles, wires and equipment. One of the poles had an electric transformer attached, which came down when the pole fell, Eversource said. “It was definitely a truck that hit the wires,” said Mike Battaglia, who called 911 to report the incident.”There was a truck, I saw the truck, the back was up, and it yanked the cables and ripped it out of the ground,” said Andy Anan, another witness to the incident. He described the truck driving by with its back up, pulling down the cables and splitting a telephone pole in half.”We saw the explosion it was like the Fourth of July, sparks everywhere, the whole sky lit up,” Battaglia said. Despite these accounts, Framingham police attributed the issues to a transformer explosion and did not acknowledge a truck’s involvement.Eversource, however, insisted, “This was not the result of a transformer blowing, and there was no indication of a transformer failure.”Eversource de-energized the lines at about 8 p.m., and most of the 200 customers who lost power had service restored by 10:30 p.m. Crews replaced the damaged pole and lifted the electric wires back into place.The road was closed in both directions between Concord Street and Caldor Road, and gridlock stretched for miles. Traffic along nearby roads detouring the area was at a near standstill. “Twenty minutes to get out of my own driveway,” one motorist said. “No one would let me out. It was terrible.”“It usually takes me like 10 minutes to get where I went. It took me like an hour,” another motorist said.
A section of Route 9 in Framingham, Massachusetts, was shut down for most of Wednesday after a truck snagged power lines and snapped utility poles, Eversource said.
The city, however, blames the mess on a transformer explosion.
The incident happened at about 7:50 p.m. in the area of 121 Worcester Road, which is Route 9, causing damage to telephone poles and overhead wires spanning the roadway, police said. Route 9 remained closed until approximately 3:30 p.m.
Eversource said a truck traveling along Route 9 snagged low-hanging communications cables, which brought down two utility poles, wires and equipment. One of the poles had an electric transformer attached, which came down when the pole fell, Eversource said.
“It was definitely a truck that hit the wires,” said Mike Battaglia, who called 911 to report the incident.
“There was a truck, I saw the truck, the back was up, and it yanked the cables and ripped it out of the ground,” said Andy Anan, another witness to the incident.
He described the truck driving by with its back up, pulling down the cables and splitting a telephone pole in half.
“We saw the explosion it was like the Fourth of July, sparks everywhere, the whole sky lit up,” Battaglia said.
Despite these accounts, Framingham police attributed the issues to a transformer explosion and did not acknowledge a truck’s involvement.
Eversource, however, insisted, “This was not the result of a transformer blowing, and there was no indication of a transformer failure.”
Eversource de-energized the lines at about 8 p.m., and most of the 200 customers who lost power had service restored by 10:30 p.m. Crews replaced the damaged pole and lifted the electric wires back into place.
The road was closed in both directions between Concord Street and Caldor Road, and gridlock stretched for miles. Traffic along nearby roads detouring the area was at a near standstill.
“Twenty minutes to get out of my own driveway,” one motorist said. “No one would let me out. It was terrible.”
“It usually takes me like 10 minutes to get where I went. It took me like an hour,” another motorist said.