The light at Jetton and W. Catawba: Is it leaning more? The damage is visible in the lower left of the photo

From a reader:

Is there an E.T.A. for a crew to replace the badly damaged and continuously leaning light at W. Catawba and Jetton Rd.? It has been 2 weeks now and I pass that light at least 4 times a day. It is leaning and appearing to twist more and more. That pole is going to come down and kill some one. Please help push the proper people to action.

—Concerned citizen.

May 7. The NCDOT is in the process of installing temporary wooden poles so traffic can access Jetton Road again. Roughly 100 feet on the Magnolia Plaza side of West Catawba have been closed to pedestrian and automobile traffic since April 17.

The incident happened when a Concord Industrial Services dump truck clipped the support arm at Jetton and West Catawba after leaving the Chase Bank construction site where the Rite Aid store used to be.

The truck suffered $200 in damage.

The NCDOT puts the scope of the accident in an entirely different light, financially speaking.

“We can use the crash report from this incident and file a claim to recover the costs of the pole from the driver/company responsible,” said NCDOT spokeswoman Jen Thompson.

According to the police report, the 74-year-old truck driver was driving with the bed in the raised position. It goes on to say the construction site manager said he saw the crash occur but “could not notify the driver because he did not have his phone number.”

It’s unclear how much the repair will ultimately cost, but a four-way intersection with lights and poles—plus design and engineering—can cost $400,000.

Sadly, the signal will continue to run on a timed cycle, meaning long waits at one of the town’s busiest intersections.