Streetsboro crash shears off utility pole, causes power outages in area Tuesday

Jeff Saunders, Record-Courier
·2 min read
A dump truck struck a utility pole, shearing it off and damaging transformers, at the side of state Route 303 at Market Square Drive in Streetsboro Tuesday morning. Power outages in the area were blamed on the crash that occurred after a minivan went through a red light at the intersection.
A dump truck struck a utility pole, shearing it off and damaging transformers, at the side of state Route 303 at Market Square Drive in Streetsboro Tuesday morning. Power outages in the area were blamed on the crash that occurred after a minivan went through a red light at the intersection.

A two-vehicle crash in Streetsboro Tuesday morning is blamed for power outages in the area that continued into the afternoon.

Streetsboro police Lt. Rich Polivka said police and the fire department responded to state Route 303 and Market Square Drive after receiving multiple 911 calls, the first at 8:41 a.m., reporting that a truck had struck a utility pole.

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Polivka said an investigation determined that a 19-year-old Chardon woman was driving southbound on Market Square in a Dodge Caravan when she went through a red light and was struck by a dump truck traveling eastbound on Route 303. The truck, which was not carrying a load at the time, struck a utility pole. The pole was sheared off and three transformers on it were damaged.

A dump truck is shown being removed after it struck a utility pole at the side of state Route 3030 at Market Square Drive in Streetsboro Tuesday morning, causing power outages in the area.
A dump truck is shown being removed after it struck a utility pole at the side of state Route 3030 at Market Square Drive in Streetsboro Tuesday morning, causing power outages in the area.

EMS took the woman and the truck's driver, a 71-year-old Hudson man, to area hospitals for treatment of reportedly minor injuries, said Polivka.

Polivka said Route 303 was closed between state Route 14 and Market Square Drive. It remained closed as of about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday while Ohio Edison crews replaced the pole.

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Polivka said the crash caused power outages in the area. FirstEnergy Corp. reported that more than 1,500 of its Portage County customers were without power not long after the crash, but at that time only said the cause was under investigation. Impacted customers included more than 700 in Streetsboro, more than 600 in Franklin Township and fewer than 100 each in Kent and Sugar Bush Knolls.

As of about 3:40 p.m., FirstEnergy was reporting that about 615 customers were still without power in the county, including about 550 in Streetsboro in the area of the crash. FirstEnergy was at that time attributing the Streetsboro outage to a motor vehicle crash.

FirstEnergy estimated power would be restored by 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, but that was subject to possible change. Go to https://outages.firstenergycorp.com/oh.html for updated information about power outages.

Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Streetsboro crash blamed for power outages in area Tuesday