Downed Tree Closes Scott Blvd, Police Predict “Long Term Problem”
Decatur Metro | June 13, 2012
Update V: Much of the Scott traffic is getting directed through downtown Decatur. So far it looks like things are moving surprisingly smoothly – though certainly more congested. This may be because much of the traffic is backed up into the Ponce Heights neighborhood.
Update IV:Another update from the City Manager…
Latest update. Georgia Power is on the scene at Scott Boulevard with two crews. A tree brought down multiple poles which will require Georgia Power to replace the lines and re-thread the lines to the poles. Scott Boulevard is now closed to traffic from West Ponce de Leon to Coventry. It is estimated that GA Power will be working until at least 3:00am Thursday morning to restore power so expect that Scott Blvd. will be blocked and use alternate streets if you must travel in the area.
Update III: Deputy Police Chief Keith Lee says there is a “major tree down” and that it looks to be a “long-term problem.”
Update II: From City Manager Peggy Merriss….
A large tree has fallen and is blocking Scott Boulevard between Coventry and Pinetree. Traffic is being detoured off of Scott Boulevard. Public safety and public works staff are on-site. Power lines are down so Georgia Power will have to give the okay to clear the lines. Please avoid the area if at all possible.
Update: In a comment, AMB says there’s a tree down at Coventry.
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Scott Boulevard is currently closed at Nelson Ferry. Not sure the other end of the closure, but at least down to Coventry.
Decatur Fire and GA Power are on the scene. Couldn’t get clarification on what happened. Heard a loud bang/pop about 45 minutes ago. Power is out in adjoining neighborhoods.
More as I know it. Obviously avoid the area in a car at all costs. Traffic is totally backed up.
Latest from Decaturish
Radio said it was a tree down at Coventry.
Thanks AMB!
DM and AMB, you have my undying gratitude. (Was contemplating a non-essential errand in that direction.)
And here come the choppers!!
Got one that seems to be hovering right over the house. Our big guard dog is curled up under the end table scared to death of it.
Hmmm. And here I thought the only way traffic could get worse on Scott was for a Walmart to open!
Just got back from a run coming from the other direction but traffic was clear on the Clairemont/Clairmont/Garden side of Scott, with just a few cars stopped westbound at the light at Coventry. I’m sure that will change very quickly if traffic is going to be diverted through rush hour. If only we had some sort of mass transit/light rail alternative…
there goes our dinner plans at the pool this evening – bummer – hope no one was injured.
There were several–4-6–transformer pops and brief power outages in that area last night around 3-4 AM. I wonder if they were related. I was curious about the cause because transformer blowouts and power outages in our area have been less frequent in recent years. But my sleepiness outweighed my curiousity.
I noticed that as well, I was trying to write some programs for a class, and since my laptop if off getting repaired, I was on the desktop…with no battery backup…. the repeated power outages were realllllllllly annoying
I slept happily thru the outages last night but noise sensitive husband kept getting up and resetting our clocks. I think I saw tree work going on along Scott tuesday morning in that area near venetian pool…wonder if it was related or just a coincidence.
Hope everyone gets their power back on soon! Traffic on W Ponce is back to normal levels now, so I guess Scott must be open again.
I heard that last night too at the same time. Glad I wasn’t the only one.
I have called GA Power and recommended they start burying the power lines underground, to solve this ongoing problem.
good luck, and keep trying. Sent letters a few years ago, and they “explained” it was cost prohibitive and even suggested that there was as much or more ‘power leakage’ (i.e., inefficiency) for buried vs. overhead cabling. Not quite sure I understand the physics of that; But then I never was a great physics student.
Well GA power must know something that all the other power companies don’t. Seems like every other city is smart enough to bury their lines. Since I didn’t get much enthusiasm on the phone, I rode my bike up to the guys working and suggested they start with the burying right here. But he countered and suggested we cut all the trees down instead. Then went on to say we should be running the sewer lines up above ground too. So didn’t feel like we were making progress. I’m going to look into going solar.
“Then went on to say we should be running the sewer lines up above ground too.”
I feel like I should know why, but I don’t. So why would that be a good idea? Or was he just being facetious?
He said something about sludge density, beef brisket, tap roots, macro clogs, metal snakes, filtered blockages, proximity wells and septic fields. I wasnt able to piece the nuggets together myself, but seemed legit. But I’m no supporter of the proposed above ground sewer lines.
Tell us where else 14,000 volt lines are buried for long distances.
A good portion of New Zealand’s power lines are buried underground. Most of the lines in Wellington. In the valleys you never see a power line. In the hill, especially around Wellington, you see lines because there is no way to really bury them on the sides of the windy hills.
All over the world!! My boyfriend is from a third world country and cannot believe we have power outages b/c of so many above-ground power lines.
Buried power lines sound like a good idea. But just imagine what it would take to bury all of Decatur’s power lines plus the cable & telephone lines. That’s a lot of digging up and construction and traffic. Then expand that to the metro area. Not worth it, if you ask me.
Not to mention having to dig up everyone’s yard to bury the service lines and having an electrician re-do the service entrance.
Just spoke to a lineman working on the problem, he estimates power will be back on within the hour!!!
Just talked to GA Power and the westchester Hills area should be back up and running around 945. They just updated their site with details if you check out report an outage. Dinner by iPhone tonight
My typical car commute is from Oakhurst, to East Lake, all along Ponce to the Midtown / VA-Highland border. (I work about 1 block from Inman Middle School)
However, today I rode my bike to work and on my way home this evening I barely even noticed that there was a backup when I crossed Ponce.
Thank-you DM for making me even happier that I commuted by bike today!
Saw the trucks driving away around 9:00 PM. But the traffic light at Coventry and Scott was still out…..
Anyone still without power? Ours has been off and on but is on right now…..but we just got a Code Red warning so who knows what’s next.
BTW: Good information on the pros and cons of underground power lines:
http://www.entergy.com/2008_hurricanes/Underground-lines.pdf
Reader’s digest version: It can be a good idea in some areas of new development but they do have a downside and changing existing lines is a cost prohibitive retrofit.
Don’t forget burying them will kill most of the trees along the route, unless they do fancy, costly water jet-root protecting trenching methods. No one would pay the rate hikes to bury distribution lines.
Had a friend post on Facebook last night that the traffic on Ponce was backed up all the way to Moreland & barely moving (this was around 5:45pm).
Dayum.
I can confirm that! I was in it. Made my way via Clifton over to McLendon, then Ridgecrest to East Lake to Parkwood to Upland to W. Poncein order to avoid the gridlock. Worked pretty well.
Did anyone try North Ave to Oakdale to McLendon to Ridgecrest to Howard? That’s my much preferred alternate.
If no one is still without power, I think this incident was handled remarkably quickly and efficiently. I don’t know who took care of the tree but there were at least six GA Power trucks and crews working on the power lines in the evening, maybe more. Hope everyone who passed any of the workers, said “Thanks”. I got a chance to shout up to one truck and they seemed to appreciate it.
For all the grief they take, Georgia Power has always been excellent in responding to situations like that, putting all available resources on it. Sometimes, like ice storms, they’re stretched thin, but that do as well as they possible can.
I can’t believe how many trees have fallen lately. In Medlock it’s like an epidemic.