Truck rips down power line

The driver of an 18-wheeler hauled a little more than he wanted Thursday evening when the oversized truck snagged a power line in downtown Odessa, ripping down two telephone poles and causing the busy intersection to close down Thursday evening, Odessa police Sgt. Sammy Berzoza said.

Berzoza said the CDI International Inc. truck headed south on U.S. Highway 385 through Odessa and cut two telephone poles in half, cutting the power to the traffic signals at Eighth Street and Grant Avenue. The trucker, whose name was not available, was ticketed for violating an oversized vehicle restriction.

The power line fell on both sides of Grant Avenue, with the line just east of the intersection landing on two parked cars. He said “by the grace of God” the power was taken out before the line touched the cars and no one was injured, though the power line was still live west of the road.

Splinters from one of the poles littered the intersection. Crews were busy cutting the downed lines at press time and Berzoza said the intersection of Eighth and Grant would likely be closed until 3 a.m. Friday.

Oncor area manager Sue Mercer said the accident left the traffic light without power but otherwise no outages were reported. Still, crews from Oncor, Cable One, AT&T and the city of Odessa were assessing the damages.

Berzoza said there’s a warning sign at U.S. 385 and Loop 338 warning oversized trucks to detour on the loop.