George King of Beacon Avenue asked City Councilors Monday night to hold National Grid to its responsibility to fully repair streets where it performs gas line work.
King told the Council that after National Grid had finished working on a line in front of his home, they had left an 3 to 4-inch cut in the street, and now his car bottoms out when he drives into the street from his driveway.
More importantly, King said, the cut in the street will pose a hazard to snow plows in the winter, as plows hitting it will either tear up a big section of the street or be tipped over during their runs through the area.
When he called National Grid to address the issue, King said, they gave him a runaround, finally providing him a number to call that turned out to belong to the Cruise Brothers travel agency. "That's the gas company's idea of humor," King said, speculating that they wished to send him off on vacation so he'd stop calling.
City Council President John Ward asked DPW Chief Sheila McGauvran to put pressure on National Grid to do a better job of cleaning up after their road work. He said ideally, their activity in the city should be happening, "...under the watchful eye of the City."
McGauvran said her office has had difficulties with National Grid as well. "We've been contacting the gas company about this and they've been giving us the runaround too," she said. In some cases, she said, final work to smooth out a road has to wait 90 days for the area to settle after construction.
Ward suggested holding National Grid's pending permits until they address past work. "Abuse by the gas company is unacceptable," Ward said.
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