What exactly are utility crews doing on Hobart Road near Tiger Mountain State Forest?
Well, in short, they are working to stop a potential tree-related outage before it even begins, by upgrading our vital infrastructure.
Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is upgrading wire and poles on a one-mile stretch of Hobart Road in Issaquah for the next couple of months. The work initially started March 10. This is one of many improvement projects PSE has planned for 2025 to help reduce power outages and enhance service reliability for customers.
Drivers in the area should expect additional traffic delays as crews replace old wiring with tree wire and install new utility poles. It may not sound like much, but tree wire is a special kind of wire.
“Tree wire is specially coated overhead wire, designed to prevent an electric short (and subsequent outage) when a tree limb falls into a power line,” PSE Spokesperson Gerald Tracy said. “Where installed, it significantly reduces the frequency of tree-related outages, but cannot prevent all disruptions, such as an entire tree falling into a power line.”
Most of the work will take place at night in attempts to alleviate traffic concerns. Residents in the area may hear loud noises from heavy machinery, along with possible temporary outages for those who live along the route. Crews will escort vehicles through the work zone for residents who live nearby.
Residents may recall having this work scheduled to start in February, however, the work was delayed during a recent windstorm. Work began officially March 10, and it’s expected to last approximately two months.
Once completed, residents will notice a temporary asphalt patch on the road or sidewalk. These will remain until a final crew comes by soon after to apply new asphalt.
