December 2, 2008
Watchdog
Leaning light pole signals a hazard
Department of Transportation officials have said that this leaning light pole at Greenspring Avenue and Druid Park Drive will be replaced soon. (Sun photo by Kim Hairston / January 16, 2008)
THE PROBLEM // A pole supporting a traffic signal and street light at Greenspring Avenue and Druid Park Drive had been leaning since it was hit by a car about a year ago.
THE BACKSTORY // A Watchdog reader called to report that the pole, on the northwest edge of Druid Hill Park, had been leaning since the accident.
The reader said that city workers had put a support cable on the pole, but that high winds recently snapped the cable, causing the pole to tilt again.
A construction and maintenance crew secured the pole with a guy wire about a year ago as a temporary remedy, said Baltimore Department of Transportation spokeswoman Adrienne Barnes.
After Watchdog alerted the department that the 22-foot strain pole was tilting again, traffic signal maintenance workers investigated and replaced the wire as a temporary measure.
They determined that the galvanized steel pole is a "control" pole that supports a control cabinet, which operates the traffic signals.
"They're going to replace the cabinet or base of the pole, so we can get that pole up and going," Barnes said.
A replacement pole should be installed this week, she said.
WHO CAN FIX THIS // Felicia Oliver, chief of traffic engineering for the Baltimore Department of Transportation, 410-396-6905. City residents can also call 311 to report problems.
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