Crash knocks out traffic signals and power to 16,000+ in north Richland
About 16,500 customers and several traffic signals in Richland lost power for hours overnight after a car crash tore out several wires supporting power poles.
Police were forced to shut down a main thoroughfare, Jadwin Avenue, for a time, until temporary traffic signs could be set up.
The Bonneville Power Administration and city of Richland line workers were still working Monday morning to repair the lines and restore power.
The crash happened shortly after 11:30 p.m. when a car heading north on Stevens Drive near Saint Street and cut through a wire supporting a Bonneville Power Administration transmission pole, sending power lines and transformers crashing to the ground, Richland police said on Facebook.
Officer are still investigating why the driver veered off the road.
The intersection is near the Highway 240 bypass in the northern section of Richland and is heavily traveled by Hanford commuters.
Vibrations from the crash broke the porcelain insulators that hold the power lines that feed into a substation for the city, said Sandi Edgemon, the business services manager with the electric utility.
That knocked out power north of Lee Boulevard and between the Columbia and Yakima rivers. Crews were able to restore power by 2:45 a.m.
The outage was still affecting the traffic lights at Stevens Drive and Coast Street and Stevens Drive and Saint Street early Monday, city officials said on Facebook.
Police also warned of the dangers of the lines possibly across roadways and walking paths in the area.
The driver and a passenger were out of the car when police arrived. Both were taken to a local hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Richland streets and power operation divisions crews put temporary traffic signs in place while they worked to restore power.
The six power lines were off the ground and the Bonneville Power Administration had rerouted the power going to the city, Edgemon told the Herald late Monday morning.
