An officer at the scene said it appears a tall moving truck had become caught on low hanging wires over the street, but didn’t realize it and kept driving. The wires came down, along with a power pole which held a transformer.
There are currently wires in the street, across sidewalks and in people’s yards. The lines are no longer live, and crews are working to move them. Nobody was hurt in the incident
Workers have been spotted using heavy equipment to add beams along the perimeter.
Dominion had promised to upgrade the current fence with a more robust containment wall after replacing the substation in 2009. Residents had been worried not only about the aesthetics of what they consider an unsightly chain link fence, but also about safety due to the existing fence’s integrity, or perceived lack thereof.
Drivers are advised to find alternate routes instead of using N. Fillmore Street, which is shut down between Wilson Blvd and Clarendon Blvd.
Dominion is installing a new 150,000 volt underground transformer at the site. It powers numerous businesses on the block.
Ever wonder what the building being constructed across Route 50 from the Courthouse neighborhood is?
It’s a new Dominion power substation, and its part of a major electrical transmission project the company has been working on since the beginning of 2011.
(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) Nearly 3,700 1,500 Dominion customers are without power in the northwest corner of Arlington.
The power outage is currently affecting the Yorktown, Williamsburg and East Falls Church neighborhoods. Homes, businesses, traffic lights and even Yorktown High School have lost power.
The lights were installed a couple of months ago, but have remained covered up. Concerned about pedestrian safety, some residents have been emailing ARLnow.com to ask when the lights would begin functioning. One reader compared crossing the intersection to maneuvering through a video game.
“Too many people play ‘Frogger’ at night trying to go to and from the Gold’s Gym,” the reader wrote.
More than 3,600 Dominion customers in North Arlington are without power this afternoon.
Yorktown High School and Williamsburg Middle School were reported to be among the buildings that lost power. Traffic signals were reported to be dark at the intersection of Old Dominion Drive and 26th Street N.
With the help of some interesting visuals, environmental activists will be calling for policies that support cleaner air in Virginia. Specifically, the Sierra Club is asking for public hearings regarding Dominion Virginia Power’s long-term energy plan. They’re also asking for the State Corporation Commission to approve Dominion’s plan to retire two coal-fired power plants in Virginia.
To help put an exclamation point on their message, demonstrators will be bringing along “a 6-foot cardboard asthma inhaler… 6-foot tall mock wind turbines…. pinwheels symbolizing desire for wind energy… and posters and signs calling for a transition from dirty coal to clean energy.” In addition, rally bystanders will be encouraged to place phone calls to the State Corporation Commission requesting public hearings about Dominion.
At its peak, immediately after Hurricane Irene left the area yesterday morning, more than 14,000 Dominion customers were in the dark in Arlington.
“Arlington, Alexandria and Springfield experienced some significant damage,” said Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson. “Due to that, we know that it will be Tuesday night before all of those customers are restored.”
The closure is due to power lines that were knocked down by a tractor trailer, according to police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal. Dominion is on the scene and expects to have the lines repaired by 10:30 a.m. More than 150 Dominion customers are without power in the area due to the downed lines.
Eastbound Lee Highway traffic is being diverted onto southbound George Mason Drive. Cars are not being allowed to turn left at the intersection, to ensure that traffic moves smoothly through the area.
Few details about the event were revealed ahead of time, but with the announcement featuring remarks by County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman and local lawmaker Del. Patrick Hope, one could reasonably assume that the bulk of the new event was to take place in Arlington, right?
Wrong.
The construction cone slalom on Columbia Pike has converged into one relatively narrow, pock-marked chute of two-way traffic.
On one side of the Pike, two lanes are blocked by much-needed repaving work. On the other side, next to the still under-construction Penrose Square development, one lane is blocked by Dominion trucks that are preparing to replace an underground transformer that apparently blew this morning (a tipster reports hearing a large bang and seeing a flash in the area around 9:30 a.m.).
