The Unluckiest Utility Pole In Bayville

by Patricia A. Miller

This is getting old.

That’ s Berkeley Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. and Ocean Gate Mayor Paul J. Kennedy’s take on the infamous utility pole on Chelsea Avenue, just east of Mill Creek County Park.

Thursday afternoon a driver in a blue pickup truck slammed into the Verizon utility pole that’s home to Jersey Central Power & Light wires. The impact snapped the pole in half. Wires fell and caught on fire. Power went out in some sections of Bayville and Ocean Gate and traffic backed up on Route 9. Again.

So both mayors plan to lobby Ocean County to see what can be done to avoid yet another repeat of having the pole replaced, including possibly having a guardrail installed. Chelsea Avenue is a county road.

“It’s been on our radar,” Amato said. ”Mayor Kennedy from Ocean Gate is also involved in assisting because that circuit powers half of Ocean Gate. ”

And when the power goes out in Ocean Gate, Kennedy has go out to make sure the sewer pumping station is working by switching on a generator, much like he did during the massive power outages after Superstorm Sandy.

“It’s getting worse and worse,” Kennedy said Friday. “I contacted all the county people this morning.”

The driver in the latest crash was not injured, police said.