Lovely Street Reopens

With more than 130,000 Connecticut Light & Power customers without power after the storm that swept through Thursday night, motorists who use Route 177 had to wait until Friday afternoon before officials opened it to traffic.

Thursday evening, a large pine tree fell on the power line along Route 177, known locally as Lovely Street, creating a hazardous condition for anyone who passed under the wire. Canton Police closed a portion of the road from Best Cleaners to Sunrise Drive, diverting motorists through residential streets from Sunrise Drive through the Queens Peak neighborhood to Canton Springs Road.

Lovely Street remained closed until Friday afternoon while CL&P crews worked around the state to restore power to customers, said John H. Kurlick, a lineman for CL&P. Even though the tree fell on the line, it did not cause a power outage Thursday night.

“If it was an outage, it would be a larger priority,” he said. “The only people who weren’t safe were the people who drove under the line.”

A CL&P crew shut the power off so that a tree removal crew could safely take the tree down. CL&P cut power at about 12:10 p.m. Friday and restored it at about 1:15 p.m. Police removed the barriers and opened Lovely Street to traffic at about 1:30 p.m.

Earlier Friday morning, when the driver of an 18-wheeler found himself unable to make the 90-degree turn on narrow, residential Pond Road, resident Michael Campbell came out of his house to direct traffic. More than 10 vehicles taking the detour were stuck behind the truck, Campbell said.

He directed them past the truck and then helped the dairy truck driver back up and turn onto Sunrise Drive, where the roads are wider and straighter.

“The truck driver seemed to be appreciative,” said Campbell, who continued to guide confused motorists for about a half hour. “I saw gridlock in front of the house” he said with a tone of incredulity.