Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
The first day of November was the day the lights went out on Main Street in Marlinton due to construction on the town’s traffic light system.
Marlinton Mayor Sam Felton explained that the work crew was contracted by the Division of Highways to put in new poles for the traffic lights and to cut and cap off three conduits.
What the DOH didn’t realize when it designed the project is that those three conduits provided power to the lights on the lamp posts on Main Street. When the crew capped off the conduit, the lights went out and have been out ever since.
“They went out Tuesday [November 1],” Felton said. “That was the first operation. Tuesday they were on the bank side of Eighth Street, and they drilled through the conduit. That’s where we were having the most significant trouble anyway. There were only two of five lights burning between there and the river trail before they drilled through the conduit.”
Of the 165 street lights in Marlinton, Felton said, luckily, the only lights that are effected are on Main Street. Unfortunately, it might be two more weeks before those lights are restored.
After making multiple phone calls and sending a lot of emails, Felton said the DOH has put out a Change Order for the contractors to restore the conduits which will, in turn, restore power to the street lights.
Until then, Main Street will be darker than the other streets and there will be a delay in the lighting of the Christmas lights, but, hopefully, in two weeks, Main Street will, once again, be all aglow.