For at least the third time in recent memory, a vehicle knocked down the light standard at the entrance to Peerless Tyre Co. at 20th Street and Main Avenue.
A woman driving a Nissan Titan early Tuesday with Oklahoma license plates, southbound on Main, clipped the pole when she turned left into the Peerless gasoline station.
When the pole fell, it dragged electric lines from across Main diagonally across the thoroughfare.
The pole, which belongs to the city of Durango, is maintained by La Plata Electric Association.
Justin Talbot, manager of lines and services at LPEA, said that it is, indeed, the third time that the pole has been knocked down recently.
It’s generally a truck that hits the pole because it’s a tight turn to get to the gasoline pumps, Talbot said. At least once, he said, the offending vehicle was a tanker that delivers fuel to the station.
“The woman or her insurance will be billed for the damage this morning,” Talbot said. “If it’s just the pole, it can run several hundred dollars to $1,500. If we have to do concrete work, it can run several thousand.”
daler@durangoherald.com