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Council tables National Grid conduit petition until hospital pole blocking bus turnaround is removed
Summary
National Grid sought permission to install two underground conduits at Pearl and Medford Street; the council tabled the petition after councilors said a nearby old utility pole installed for a hospital development remains in place and prevents the MBTA 99 bus from serving part of a ward.
The Malden City Council opened a public hearing on a National Grid petition to install two 5‑inch underground conduits through the Pearl and Medford Street intersection (plan No. 30926772) and heard from National Grid representatives and multiple councilors.
Project intent and presentation
National Grid representatives said the conduits are part of reconductoring work to the Everett substation and that replacing a direct‑buried cable with conduit allows future cable replacement without excavation during outages. Petreich Jeka identified himself as the company representative and Sebastian Chen as a contract designer; Bob Calder, design supervisor for National Grid, later addressed service and transfer concerns.
Local opposition and tabling
Councilor Linehan spoke in opposition because of an outstanding pole issue near the Malden Hospital development: a new pole was installed but the old pole has not been removed, and councilors said the old pole prevents the MBTA 99 bus from making its turnaround and deprives part of the ward of service. Linehan requested that the petition be tabled until the old pole is removed as required under the development permit. Councilor Condon supported tabling.
Bob Calder of National Grid said his office would work to identify the next responsible entity for removing the old pole (for example, Verizon, Comcast, or municipal fiber) and offered to coordinate with council staff to expedite removal. Calder told the council he would “find out who is the next responsible person for you to expedite that pole removal.”
Outcome
On Councilor Linehan’s tabling motion, seconded by Councilor Condon, the council voted to table the petition until the pole issue at or near the Malden Hospital development is resolved and the old pole removed. The petition will return to the council once the removal is confirmed.
Ending note
National Grid represented the technical benefits of underground conduit for reliability; residents and councilors pressed the company and other utilities to complete the pole removal so bus service can be restored. The council’s tabling preserves the public hearing record while tying next steps to the corrective action on the pole.
