PPL says they are working with Ashland Borough officials to address the aging light poles on Centre Street.
Just in the month June alone, 4 utility poles have fallen along Ashland's main drag of Centre Street, which is also Route 54 and Route 61. The fallen poles luckily didn't land on any vehicles or pedestrians but has closed street for a combined 9 hours over the course of 2 days.
In March, a suspected drunk driver also easily knocked down one of the poles.
Borough officials cited the aging poles was the cause of them failing and falling. Most of the aluminum poles along Centre Street were installed in the 70's and their bases have rusted due to over 40 years road salt and weather.
At a recent borough council meeting, borough officials stated they were having trouble contacting PPL on the matter.
Then after Monday's incident, emergency personnel had trouble contacting PPL in order to report the issue and clean up the mess.
PPL crews arrived approximatley 5 hours after the incident occurred and reopened Centre Street just before midnight Monday.
Late Monday, Skook News reached out PPL for comment and received the following:
We are working closely with Ashland Borough to expedite the replacement and removal of the fallen streetlights, which are more than 50 years old. The streetlights fell during periods of high winds and storms and did not cause power outages for customers. Once notified, we moved the streetlights off the road. Additionally, we are coordinating with the borough to complete a visual inspection of all streetlights.
Photos of all the collapsed poles.
