Utility Poles Limit the Utility of Newton’s New ‘Complete Street’

10:10 AM EST on December 11, 2024

A freshly-paved city street lined with commercial buildings against the sidewalk. In the center of the image, a freshly-paved sidewalk-level bike lane is blocked by a utility pole. — Utility poles block the new sidewalk-level protected bike lane on Needham Street in Newton, pictured here looking northeast near the intersection with Rockland Street.

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A years-long MassDOT project to redesign Needham Street in Newton as a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly street is nearly complete – but the street's users are still waiting for Verizon and Eversource to remove old utility poles that are blocking the roadway in numerous locations.

Since 2020, MassDOT has been rebuilding Needham Street in Newton and two segments of the adjacent Highland Avenue in Needham to support the area's transformation from an automobile-oriented district of warehouses and strip malls into a more walkable, urban neighborhood of small businesses and new mixed-use developments.

A satellite map of the Newton-Needham border highlighting (in red) Needham Street in Newton, which runs from the center of the map to the upper-right corner, and a separate segment of Highland Avenue in Needham, in the lower left. The Charles River curves through the center of the map from the upper to lower edge. — A map of MassDOT's Needham-Newton Corridor project. Roadways highlighted in red will be rebuilt with new sidewalks and raised protected bike lanes over the next two years. Courtesy of MassDOT.

While the roadway itself is generally the same size it was before – with two lanes for motorized traffic and a center lane for left turns – the project did adjust the street's curbs to make room for accessible sidewalks and new sidewalk-level bike lanes, consistent with MassDOT's complete streets guidelines.

Now that the project is nearly complete, the curbs have moved – but the old utility poles have not. Most of them are blocking the street's brand-new bike lanes, although several are planted in the motor vehicle lanes.

Waiting on Eversource, Verizon

As part of the reconstruction project, workers installed new utility poles along Needham Street, along the outer edge of the new sidewalk.

Eversource, the regional electric power utility, and telecom companies were supposed to move their wires from the old poles onto these new poles.

"The poles in this area are a mix of poles owned by Eversource and poles owned by Verizon. They are responsible for removing these poles," a MassDOT spokesperson told StreetsblogMASS on Monday.

A freshly-paved city street lined with commercial buildings. In the center of the image there is a freshly-paved sidewalk-level bike lane. In the middle of the photo two utility poles block the edge of the motor vehicle lane. There are orange construction barrels at the base of both poles. — There are a few places where utility poles aren't blocking Needham Street's new bike lanes – they're planted in the motor vehicle lanes instead (note the new utility poles at right, along the outer edge of the sidewalk).

We asked both those companies why they hadn't done that work yet.

"Typically, the electric company will transfer its equipment to the new pole first, and sends notice to the other parties who have lines or equipment attached to the pole," explained Kyle J. Costa, an Eversource spokesperson. "This sequencing takes place because electric infrastructure is located near the top of poles, whereas that of the communications companies is farther down the pole."

Costa called this "a detailed and complex process," and in fairness, a photo of the street's wiring situation last month supports that claim:

Dozens of wires suspended over a street lined with small businesses and orange construction barrels. The photo shows four rows of utility poles along the street. In the center, pairs of poles are located on the outside of the sidewalk and in the curb between the street's bike lane and roadway; on the left edge of the photo on the other side of the street are more poles. — A view of Needham Street in Newton in late November shows four sets of utility poles that currently line the street. New utility poles have been installed on the outer edge of the new sidewalks, but the old utility poles, which are still carrying dozens of wires and cables, are blocking the roadway and the street's new bike lanes.

"While we have safely completed a substantial portion of electric service transfers to the new utility poles on Needham Street, the removal of the old poles also depends on other utility companies completing their respective transfers," Costa added.

Ilya Hemlin, a spokesperson for Verizon, told us that "there are several additional parties currently on the poles. Once their equipment is removed, Verizon will promptly remove all poles we maintain."

MassDOT and its contractors had a similar issue with an Eversource-owned utility pole on Beacon Street in Somerville in 2019.

Neither Eversource nor Verizon answered questions from StreetsblogMASS about when this work would finally be finished.