PSEG LI has started to remove 31 tall steel poles in Eastport

PSEG Long Island has begun the work of removing 31 tall steel poles from a busy roadway in Eastport, following an agreement last year with Brookhaven Town over a contentious project that saw more than 200 steel poles placed along nearly 7 miles of roadway. 

The ratepayer-funded cost to remove the poles and bury the lines is expected to be $11.8 million, PSEG said. Around 200 steel poles will remain on County Road 51. 

The utility has already begun burying the 69,000-volt transmission lines starting at the south service road of Sunrise Highway to a substation on Montauk Highway. The work, including removal of the poles in concrete foundations, is expected to be completed in May. Some of the poles are more than 80 feet tall and 9 feet around.

Crews will be working from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., PSEG said, and some smaller wooden distribution poles will remain. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Flagler said the work was “part of an effort to help beautify the downtown Eastport area.”

Once the cables are fully installed and energized, PSEG will begin dismantling the poles, in two parts, via a crane. The bottom portion will be cut at the concrete base, and the concrete will remain, Flagler said.

The steel poles, installed in 2017, were the subject of protests by Eastport and Moriches residents, a lawsuit by Brookhaven Town and contentious negotiations with town and state officials for nearly a year. PSEG a year ago agreed to remove poles from only a portion of the route.

Nearly 200 additional steel poles will remain on a 5-mile stretch of County Road 51 through Southampton and Riverhead. Residents say poles unprotected by guardrails on the 55-mile-per-hour roadway present a hazard. At least one traffic accident involving a driver hitting a pole has resulted in a fatality.

“It’s definitely a safety concern,” said Roy Reynolds, president of the East Moriches Property Owners Association, which has filed a report and a complaint with the Public Service Commission about the project and the perceived traffic hazard.

PSEG has said the pole placement conforms to local roadway requirements.

Brookhaven Supervisor Edward P. Romaine applauded the pole removal and urged the utility to go further.

"I think it's great," he said. "I would tell LIPA they should have a program to bury more of their wires in historic and particularly in storm-prone communities." 

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.