The Ultility Poles and Wires of Portland, ME

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nomc

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You asked for it! ...or at least I threatened it once or twice. This thread is meant to raise awareness of a very important issue: the globs of wires (and other unidentified and/or abandoned equipment) which festoon the streets of the peninsula. The hideous, the hilarious, the pathetic. I present to you my opening offering.

A typical row house distribution method:

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At least they left the penthouse units a view between the wires:

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Some serious dedication to using this pole:

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Taking bets on when this snaps:

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Get a room...

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Push those hips:

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I think my vision is blurred, I'm now seeing things in threes:

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Thankfully they've got the poles in place early, once the area is developed there might not be room!

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A very nice example of a traverse:

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...and finally...

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Central Maine Power, of which is owned by a giant Spanish energy conglomerate, is responsible. Mainers need to get tougher with this company (I think they are intimidated).
 
I honestly don't think that Mainers are into the beautification of things.....not sure if it is a survival (weather, financial hardships, etc) thing that is deep rooted in the past or what......it just seems like everyone from the top on down just don't get it...or care.
 
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I thought Portland had an ordinance to bury lines regarding projects? CIEE is one project that comes to mind when the HPC asked to have the lines buried due to historic issues with the Custom House. Certain cities have buried line districts, the other Portland has it. There are grants out there, aka FEMA to bury lines.
 
mainejeff said:
I honestly don't think that Mainers are into the beautification of things.....not sure if it is a survival (weather, financial hardships, etc) thing that is deep rooted in the past or what......it just seems like everyone from the top on down just don't get it...or care.
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Maine in general has a culture of poverty (visit much of the interior of the state), and spending extra money to bury power lines purely for aesthetics (how bad are power outages in Portland compared to, say, Baldwin) is bound to be seen by many - including a big chunk of the Legislature, and probably a fair number of city taxpayers - as unnecessary waste.
 
markhb said:
Maine in general has a culture of poverty (visit much of the interior of the state), and spending extra money to bury power lines purely for aesthetics (how bad are power outages in Portland compared to, say, Baldwin) is bound to be seen by many - including a big chunk of the Legislature, and probably a fair number of city taxpayers - as unnecessary waste.
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Agreed....but with climate change and increasingly volatile and violent weather (like the current storm on our doorstep).....it might be money well spent.
 
mainejeff said:
Agreed....but with climate change and increasingly volatile and violent weather (like the current storm on our doorstep).....it might be money well spent.
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In some cases maybe, but every time someone here talks about burying the wires on Commercial St. my mind goes back to the fact that that street is made of antebellum landfill and predictably floods.
 
markhb said:
In some cases maybe, but every time someone here talks about burying the wires on Commercial St. my mind goes back to the fact that that street is made of antebellum landfill and predictably floods.
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Some of the docks are underwater today. The B&M site too. Roux needs to figure a way out of their location. It's only going to get worse (rising coastal waters). Aren't they a school being built for the future?
 
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