Getting a Utility Pole Replaced

By Jim Gerwing

Like so many utility poles in James Bay, the one outside our condo on Rithet Street had a significant lean and the transformers were in need of replacement. I found out just how difficult it is to do it efficiently.

Some time in the summer BC Hydro crews came to set up a new pole, vertical this time.  They put the new transformers in place and reconnected all their wires, covering some of them with the old rusty channels and some with new channels. They secured the new post with two cables, but left one new anchor in the sidewalk without connecting it to the new pole. They left a mess around the anchor, shovelling some of the broken cement and rocks onto our flower bed.  Meanwhile, they reset the old pole, on which loose wires were still hanging, on two blocks of wood and braced it to the new pole.

With nothing happening for weeks on end, I finally called BC Hydro to see what they were doing about the mess they had left, including putting the street light back on.  The man who answered the phone said it could take months before I would see another work crew and that he knew of no coordination system to work with others who use the utility poles.

With daylight hours lessening and the street dark, I called the city, and within a few days a new street light was up and running, but the mess was still there.  Back I went to BC Hydro, this time insisting I talk to a supervisor.  That produced a bit of a result.  Two crews and two trucks came around a few weeks later to survey the site. They attached a wire to the anchor, threw some more of the debris onto our flower bed, but did nothing about the old pole or the loose wires hanging from it.  They did not patch the sidewalk around the anchor or around the new pole.  The supervisor informed me that as long as the old pole presented no safety hazard, they could leave it there indefinitely. 

That was about two months ago.  The best I could conclude was that perhaps the wires still attached to the old pole belong to Shaw or Telus.  Another series of calls resulted in discovering that the old pole belongs to Telus.  Shaw said they would send someone to look at the situation in a week or so.  BC Hydro called Telus when the new pole was first set up, but nothing has come of that.  Another supervisor promised that Telus would again be reminded, and that something would happen, especially if I pestered them as well. A call to city hall received immediate attention to the unfinished sidewalk.  That same day they marked the area and set up two cones to warn pedestrians and scooters of the potential hazard.

My call to the local Telus construction supervisor produced surprisingly quick action.  On January 6 three trucks arrived and less than two hours later, the old pole disappeared and the wiring was placed neatly on the new pole.

Lesson learned:  if you are not happy with something, you can choose to bitch about it, or phone the right people to request action.  Do it politely but persistently, and things will get done.