Car Crash Closes Route 59; O&R Rebuilding Electric System from Accident
A car crashed into a utility pole just after midnight this morning on westbound Route 59 in Nanuet, knocking the pole, three sets of transformers and hundreds of feet of overhead wires into the roadway.
A short time later, a second vehicle plowed through the accident scene, causing further damage to more poles and wire. In total, six poles were knocked down or badly damaged. There were no serious injuries reported. The accident knocked out power to 440 O&R customers. All but 14 of those customers are back in service. O&R crews re-routed power around the accident site to restore electric service.
The accident closed Route 59 in both directions. The vital transportation artery has remained closed at the immediate location in the vicinity of Old Nyack Turnpike and I-87 through the day as dozens of O&R overhead line technicians clear the damaged equipment from the scene and remove the six damaged poles.
The electric system in this location was so badly damaged by the two vehicle crashes that O&R crews cannot repair the damage. They must rebuild the pole line and electric system at the site. New poles, transformers and wire must be trucked in from O&R’s nearby Operations Center, about a mile further west on Rt. 59. Once that equipment arrives, overhead line technicians will prepare to set new poles, hang new transformers, and string new wire. That work is estimated to take the rest of the day and evening to complete.
About Orange & Rockland
Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, is a regulated utility. O&R provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.