A section of King Street in Northampton was shut down to fix a downed telephone pole, the second time such an incident has occurred on the busy thoroughfare this year.
The pole, located in front of the Lia Toyota dealership, was leaning towards the road as police cordoned off the area and National Grid trucks arrived at the scene. Nearby, a Coca-Cola truck could be seen pulled over in the neighboring Potpourri Plaza. The road was eventually cleared for single-lane traffic both ways about three hours after the incident first occurred.
It would not be the first time a truck was involved with a downed utility pole on King Street. In March, a tractor trailer truck brought down a utility pole after hitting an overhead electrical wire in the exact same area by the dealership. The incident in March caused King Street to be closed for more than 12 hours.
The closure of King Street this Wednesday occurred one day before the entrance to nearby Damon Road off King Street is set to be closed to vehicles for several days for construction by the railroad crossing by the state Department of Transportation. The closure is expected to cause traffic delays on King Street.
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
