WSDOT helps to get the lights back on

Posted by Unknown in , , , on Tuesday, January 24, 2012

While most are back to enjoying modern conveniences like high-speed Internet, some may still be wondering if they will have to spend another cold, dark night.

To make sure the lights and heat come back on as quickly as possible, our Olympia-area maintenance road crews are out with utility crews, working traffic control for Puget Sound Energy and others repairing downed power lines.

Monday, the crews were working on the tree-lined back roads of south Thurston County between Olympia and Centralia. These were hard hit with snow and ice last week and when branches fell, they took with them power lines on roads like State Route 121 near Millersylvania State Park and SR 507 between Tenino and Centralia, plus many city and county roads.

So what does a flagger or pilot car have to do with getting the lights on? Holding that stop/slow sign or leading traffic through the same 1/4-mile route over and over may not seem to help get power back on, but it’s those vital tasks that allow utility crews up in that bucket truck get their job done faster and safer, and make sure drivers get around those crews and back home.

Where, hopefully, the heat will be on soon.





This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 2:03 PM and is filed under , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.