Committee approves grant of location for New England Power transmission line at Copacott and Quannapaug roads

The Fall River City Committee on Public Works and Transportation voted to adopt an order regarding New England Power Company’s petition for transmission-line crossings at Copacott Road and Quannapaug Road, part of a Line 115 kV reliability project.

The vote came after more than an hour of testimony from neighborhood residents, engineering consultants and city staff about road conditions, a culvert in the project area and environmental safeguards. Committee members approved the committee action by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the minutes.

Neighborhood resident Sarah Riley told the committee that the paved section of Copacott Road is the neighborhood’s only reliable egress and is already in “significant disrepair,” and that heavy construction traffic could worsen potholes and impede emergency access. Riley presented photographic documentation and a 2022 damage assessment she said was prepared by a structural masonry specialist; the report, dated 5/12/22, described a “70-inch diameter culvert with extensive rebar exposure and [being] under-designed for traffic,” and recommended an H-20 load rating assessment and possible pipe replacement, abutment reconstruction or guardrails.

Joshua Lee…