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Roads, Rails, Power Line Upgrades, and Trees!
As we navigate the end of the summer season and head into the months of September and October, you will continue to see a concerted and well-organized effort to improve many facets of our local infrastructure. A vast majority of our local roads, railroad sections and railroad crossings, rural power lines, and power line vegetation have all been receiving their fair share of attention as of late. We thank our partners at Housatonic Railroad and Eversource for focusing their attention on North Canaan, and for good reasons. Our amazing team at the Highway Department has also been out in full force cutting back encroaching road sides, patching potholes, and finalizing plans for a full milling and paving project slated for North Elm Street (mid September). Plans are also being created to fully address West Main Street, Sand Road, and various local bridge crossings. We must thank Chris Toomey, our Town Arborist, for his continued awareness and diligence when it comes to targeting troublesome trees that exist within the town's right-of-way.
Scheduled Railroad Crossing Replacements in September: Orchard Street, Route 7 between Pease Street and Killawee Street, North Elm Street, and Barracks Road.
Our friends and neighbors in East Canaan and in the Canaan Valley section of town, have undoubtedly noticed a sharp uptick in vegetation management and power line work over the past month. Over the summer these locations were the unfortunate recipients of 6 power outages, all taking place within a short time period. Understandably, this caused a great amount of angst and frustration, which led to a call for leaders to take a deeper dive into the root cause. We are very thankful for the relationships that we have with our utility partners. No matter what the situation may be, routine or emergent, we take pride in our ability to establish a hasty and effective line of communication when needed. So when our plea was relayed to Tim Waldron, our Community Liaison, he had already been aware of the frequency and significance of the outages due to our updates when the outages took place in real time. In a collaborative fashion, we presented the facts of the outages and the impact that they all had, moving the needle further in our favor, demanding that a full engineering and vegetation audit be conducted in these areas. Having a formal education and background in Emergency Management, I know that having some level of power redundancy is of the utmost importance. Single source points of failure must be addressed and eliminated. Essentially, there needs to be a reliable back up plan. We are pleased to know that Eversource has since been doing their part to engineer solutions so that the entire Canaan Valley section of town won't be dark, simply because of the one blown fuse that may have occurred on a lone power pole on the far end of Old Turnpike Road South.
Below is an update that was just provided to me by Tim Waldron. The work in the area continues, but there is certainly evidence of the great strides and improvements that have been made thus far.
_________________________________________
First Selectman Ohler,
This letter serves as a follow-up regarding the recent persistent service outages affecting customers served via Old Turnpike Rd S. in North Canaan. Following the initial outages on June 25th, a design engineer and arborist were commissioned to survey the area for potential improvements. After assessing existing field conditions, a series of enhancements were identified to help reduce future interruptions for the affected customers.
The proposed solution involves three major improvements:
1. Tree Trimming: Enhanced tree trimming is planned along the entire length of Old Turnpike Rd S. and a significant portion of College Hill Rd. While Old Turnpike Rd is not heavily wooded, College Hill Rd features large, old-growth trees with canopies that extend above our infrastructure. Potential contact with overhead lines, falling limbs, and tree falls pose the primary risks for tree-related outages in this area. The planned trimming should substantially reduce the likelihood of limb contact and tree-related disruptions.
2. Protective Devices: Two new protective devices, known as trip-savers, will be installed—one at the beginning of Old Turnpike Rd S. and another part way up College Hill Rd. These devices function similarly to fuses but are designed to prevent permanent outages caused by minor tree contact or small debris. On average, they offer a 50% reduction in outage frequency and can prevent certain outage scenarios entirely.
3. Transformer Fusing: The final improvement involves fusing all servicetransformers along Old Turnpike Rd S. This measure ensures that isolated equipment failures will only impact customers served by the affected transformer, rather than causing broader service interruptions along the tap.
After these improvements are performed, the service along Old Turnpike Rd S. should experience fewer tree related interruptions and will be protected from isolated transformer failures.
- Eversource Management
______________________________
I thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy update. We ask that you please take some extra time when you need to travel near these roads and rail projects, and of course, please yield to all traffic commands and signals. Thank you for your continued support and patience. I hope that you and your family had an enjoyable summer. Here's to a festive and much cooler fall season!
Respectfully,
Brian M. Ohler
First Selectman
Town of North Canaan
Roads, Rails, Power Line Upgrades, and Trees!
As we navigate the end of the summer season and head into the months of September and October, you will continue to see a concerted and well-organized effort to improve many facets of our local infrastructure. A vast majority of our local roads, railroad sections and railroad crossings, rural power lines, and power line vegetation have all been receiving their fair share of attention as of late. We thank our partners at Housatonic Railroad and Eversource for focusing their attention on North Canaan, and for good reasons. Our amazing team at the Highway Department has also been out in full force cutting back encroaching road sides, patching potholes, and finalizing plans for a full milling and paving project slated for North Elm Street (mid September). Plans are also being created to fully address West Main Street, Sand Road, and various local bridge crossings. We must thank Chris Toomey, our Town Arborist, for his continued awareness and diligence when it comes to targeting troublesome trees that exist within the town's right-of-way.
Scheduled Railroad Crossing Replacements in September: Orchard Street, Route 7 between Pease Street and Killawee Street, North Elm Street, and Barracks Road.
Our friends and neighbors in East Canaan and in the Canaan Valley section of town, have undoubtedly noticed a sharp uptick in vegetation management and power line work over the past month. Over the summer these locations were the unfortunate recipients of 6 power outages, all taking place within a short time period. Understandably, this caused a great amount of angst and frustration, which led to a call for leaders to take a deeper dive into the root cause. We are very thankful for the relationships that we have with our utility partners. No matter what the situation may be, routine or emergent, we take pride in our ability to establish a hasty and effective line of communication when needed. So when our plea was relayed to Tim Waldron, our Community Liaison, he had already been aware of the frequency and significance of the outages due to our updates when the outages took place in real time. In a collaborative fashion, we presented the facts of the outages and the impact that they all had, moving the needle further in our favor, demanding that a full engineering and vegetation audit be conducted in these areas. Having a formal education and background in Emergency Management, I know that having some level of power redundancy is of the utmost importance. Single source points of failure must be addressed and eliminated. Essentially, there needs to be a reliable back up plan. We are pleased to know that Eversource has since been doing their part to engineer solutions so that the entire Canaan Valley section of town won't be dark, simply because of the one blown fuse that may have occurred on a lone power pole on the far end of Old Turnpike Road South.
Below is an update that was just provided to me by Tim Waldron. The work in the area continues, but there is certainly evidence of the great strides and improvements that have been made thus far.
_________________________________________
First Selectman Ohler,
This letter serves as a follow-up regarding the recent persistent service outages affecting customers served via Old Turnpike Rd S. in North Canaan. Following the initial outages on June 25th, a design engineer and arborist were commissioned to survey the area for potential improvements. After assessing existing field conditions, a series of enhancements were identified to help reduce future interruptions for the affected customers.
The proposed solution involves three major improvements:
1. Tree Trimming: Enhanced tree trimming is planned along the entire length of Old Turnpike Rd S. and a significant portion of College Hill Rd. While Old Turnpike Rd is not heavily wooded, College Hill Rd features large, old-growth trees with canopies that extend above our infrastructure. Potential contact with overhead lines, falling limbs, and tree falls pose the primary risks for tree-related outages in this area. The planned trimming should substantially reduce the likelihood of limb contact and tree-related disruptions.
2. Protective Devices: Two new protective devices, known as trip-savers, will be installed—one at the beginning of Old Turnpike Rd S. and another part way up College Hill Rd. These devices function similarly to fuses but are designed to prevent permanent outages caused by minor tree contact or small debris. On average, they offer a 50% reduction in outage frequency and can prevent certain outage scenarios entirely.
3. Transformer Fusing: The final improvement involves fusing all servicetransformers along Old Turnpike Rd S. This measure ensures that isolated equipment failures will only impact customers served by the affected transformer, rather than causing broader service interruptions along the tap.
After these improvements are performed, the service along Old Turnpike Rd S. should experience fewer tree related interruptions and will be protected from isolated transformer failures.
- Eversource Management
______________________________
I thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy update. We ask that you please take some extra time when you need to travel near these roads and rail projects, and of course, please yield to all traffic commands and signals. Thank you for your continued support and patience. I hope that you and your family had an enjoyable summer. Here's to a festive and much cooler fall season!
Respectfully,
Brian M. Ohler
First Selectman
Town of North Canaan
