UPDATE: Power Restored in Northwest Plymouth After Car Crashes Into Power Pole

A one-vehicle crash was the culprit of a power outage for about 276 Xcel Energy customers Monday morning (July 15) in northwest Plymouth.

According to the Xcel Energy outage map, the power was reported out at 6:19 a.m. and the estimated restoration time is around 10 a.m. Monday morning for the homes near Vicksburg Lane. The power outage was not indicated on the Xcel outage map by Monday evening.

A car hit a power pole after going too fast over a recently altered railroad crossing on Vicksburg Lane.

At a June Plymouth City Council meeting Plymouth Public Works Director Doran Cote talked about the changes made to the crossing with little heads up from the Canadian Pacific Railroad company.

The crossing was closed in early June so the company could make changes to the track allowing trains to increase their speed limit. Trains cross it on a curve and the grading of the tracks has raised it by around 6 inches. This change has caused some concerns by residents and the city because the tracks can no longer be taken at faster speed than 30 mph.

The city has put up signs for 30 mph and a bump warning as well as installed several traffic mitigating poles with reflective tape to be seen at night.

But that has not always slowed motorists down. Cote said at the meeting he has asked MnDOT what could be done since the city had no say in what the railroad company did. Essentially, he was told there wasn't anything MnDOT could do.

In the past, the city has worked with railroad companies on such changes and been able to make the necessary adjustments for safety.

At the meeting Councilmember Judy Johnson noted that it was a heavily traveled corridor and it was "going to be ugly out there."

Looking at the roadway on either side of the railroad tracks one can see the scratch marks from vehicles going faster than the speed limit over the tracks.

On Monday, July 15, Cote said via email: "We have contacted MnDOT’s Office of Railroads, Senator Franken’s office and the CP rail company to attempt to make the situation better all with no resolve as of yet." 

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