ODOT to fund Salem signal pole replacement
SALEM — Work to replace all traffic signal poles and cross arms in the downtown is scheduled to begin next week by the Ohio Department of Transportation, three years after a traffic light crashed onto State Street when a pole collapsed.
“The (new) poles are galvanized and painted –that’s part of the requirements of the program,” city Service/Safety Director Ken Kenst said.
During the investigation into why the signal pole fell over in 2014, the city discovered that the poles installed by ODOT in 1995 which were supposed to be galvanized were not, apparently leading to metal deterioration.
No one was injured when the traffic light crashed on a Friday afternoon at the busy intersection of Broadway and State. The city responded by having all the poles inspected and immediately replaced four of the signal poles which were considered an imminent safety hazard.
The city then came up with a plan to shore up the rest of the poles until they could be replaced, installing anchors at the bottom of each pole.
The city talked back and forth with ODOT since the incident and ODOT agreed in 2015 to replace all the signal poles in the downtown business district. The job includes the cross arms that the traffic signals hang from. When the city gave ODOT authorization to replace the poles, the ordinance spelled out a requirement that all poles “be galvanized black poles to prevent or minimize failure of said poles due to deterioration.”
The work does not include replacement of the traffic signals, just the poles and cross arms, Kenst confirmed. There will be 27 poles replaced in nine intersections. The intersections include: Howard Avenue and State Street; Ellsworth Avenue and State Street; Broadway Avenue and State Street; Lundy Avenue and State Street; Lincoln Avenue and State Street; Pershing Street and Lincoln Avenue; Second Street and Ellsworth Avenue; Pershing Street and Ellsworth Avenue; and Pershing Street and Broadway Avenue.
The contractor for the $330,000 project is Perram Electric Inc. from Wadsworth, with completion expected June 30. Flaggers will maintain traffic.
Kenst said ODOT is covering the bulk of the cost, with the city only paying $3,000 toward the engineering for the two intersections that don’t fall on state routes. Those intersections, Pershing and Broadway and Second and Ellsworth, will likely get completed first. The four poles that the city replaced in 2014 will be replaced, but the city will keep those poles for use elsewhere since they’re galvanized and fairly new.
Kenst said ODOT “obviously saw what the problem was.”
“We’re happy that they’re doing it. They do a lot of projects in and around Salem and we want to keep working with them,” he said.
He added it will be nice to get it done and out of the way before any paving starts this year.
mgreier@salemnews.net