MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Milwaukee streetcar crew causes AT&T outage

Mary Spicuzza
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Crews working on the Milwaukee Streetcar project have caused an AT&T outage.

The AT&T line was damaged Monday, cutting off service to more than 100 customers. Dozens were still without service as of Wednesday afternoon.

The incident reportedly occurred near the corner of N. Broadway and W. Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee.

"Some of our facilities were damaged by a crew doing construction in the Milwaukee area," said Samara Sodos, a spokeswoman for AT&T Wisconsin. "Services are starting to restore now and we will continue to work until all customers are restored. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Work is done to straighten the track in front of the U.S. Post Office at 345 W. Saint Paul Ave. STREETCAR - Rails for the future Milwaukee streetcar are being laid west of the Milwaukee River on W. St. Paul Ave. between Plankinton and 4th St. in Milwaukee on Monday, May15, 2017. Workers with Kiewit Infrastructure Co. were busy laying, straightening and connecting 80-foot sections of rail for tracks mainly in front of the U.S. Post Office at 345 W. Saint Paul Ave. Service for the initial downtown route is expected to begin in fall 2018, and the lakefront line is expected to start operating in 2019. The streetcar plan aims to connect the Milwaukee Intermodal Station with the city's lower east side. The project's capital budget is about $128 million for a 2.5-mile route, with an estimated $3.2 million annual operating and maintenance budget.
 -  Photo by Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Track for the Milwaukee streetcar is being installed on W. St. Paul Ave. and N. Broadway by contractors with Kiewit Corp.

"As with any public works project, the contractors we hire perform due diligence in identifying locations of utilities within the construction zone," said Ghassan Korban, commissioner of the Department of Public Works. "Unfortunately, despite the best precautions, an underground telecommunication utility was accidentally damaged."

Korban added that workers were trying to repair the line as quickly as possible.

A number of businesses, including Pizza Shuttle on N. Farwell Ave., were affected.