Traffic detour during power outage in Langford January 9

Wednesday, January 9, 2019 ~ LANGFORD. [Updated 7:45 pm]

~ by West Shore Voice News

A large tree fell on a power line during some property redevelopment on Glen Lake Road near Springhill Road around noon today. Six spans of line came down and two poles were broken.

As a result, for safety reasons Glen Lake Road is closed between the roundabout at Alouette Drive to the walkway at Goudy Turf (3048 Glen Lake Rd).

City of Langford Engineering advises motorists to take alternate routes until repairs are completed, which looks like it could be the wee hours of Thursday morning, January 10.

When the 12:02 pm outage first happened, areas of Langford, Colwood and Metchosin were impacted, with over 3,000 customers ending up without power. By mid-afternoon, the number of customers without power was reduced to 1,025 says Karla Louwers, Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast spokesperson with BC Hydro. By 6 pm another 414 were restored.

Belmont Secondary School which backs onto Glen Lake Road had lost power but ran generators through the afternoon in order for classes to continue. School administration felt that dismissing students earlier could have posed some safety concerns and difficulties for families.

As of 6 pm, still 611 affected BC Hydro customers were without power. The affected outage area is located north of Tayberry Terrace, east of West Shore Parkway, west of Flannagan Place, and south of Langford Parkway.

Power restoration for those remaining 611 customers is estimated to be 2 am on Thursday morning, January 10.

Weather was calm in the area today — no wind or much rain.

The closed road offers access to Goudy Field and Belmont Secondary School parking lots.

BC Hydro spokesperson Ted Olynyk says that when an outage is caused by a third party that the utility will try to recoup costs from the at-fault party.