Downed poles close Salt Lake road

The westbound lanes of Salt Lake Boulevard from Kamehameha Highway to Kalaloa Street near Aloha Stadium were closed from early morning Tuesday and well into the night after three utility poles went down.

Darren Pai, Hawaiian Electric Co. spokes­man, said work on replacing the three downed poles was to be completed by about 8:30 Tuesday night.

But other utility companies including Hawaiian Telcom would still need to reattach their lines to the new poles then, he said.

Hawaiian Telcom was expected to complete stringing its lines by 1 a.m. today, spokes­woman Ann Nishida said.

The eastbound lanes of Salt Lake Boulevard were open during the work, Pai said.

Power initially went out for about 1,200 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers in the Maka­lapa Manor and Crosspointe neighborhoods when the poles went down at about 4:13 a.m. Area businesses were also reportedly affected.

Pai said the cause appears to be broken guy wires that led to the collapse of three wooden poles.

By 6 a.m. power was restored to about 800 customers by rerouting their connections to backup circuits, he said.

Police responded after witnesses in the Maka­lapa Manor area reported hearing a loud bang, police dispatch said.

Police were directing traffic around the closure.