It looks like work to remove utility poles is about to begin on roads all around Nishinomiya City!
This article is brought to you by “Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Dental and Oral Surgery, open year-round,” a dental clinic supporting Nishitsu.
What does removing utility poles mean?
It refers to work that removes utility poles from city roads so that, during natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes, fallen poles do not obstruct emergency vehicles and other traffic. The goal is to maintain transportation functions and improve the cityscape. Nishinomiya City has also established a “Municipal Utility Pole Removal Promotion Plan.”
The method apparently differs by location, such as burying the power lines underground or routing them along back streets.
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For details, see here
Places where utility poles have already been removed are shown below:
*Captured from the Nishinomiya City Utility Pole Removal Promotion Plan
This is along Yamate Kansen in front of Shukugawa Station.
The image is a little hard to make out, but you can see that the power lines along and across the road are gone.
It really gives the area a cleaner look!
The currently planned locations are below:
*Captured from the Nishinomiya City Utility Pole Removal Promotion Plan
Areas Scheduled for Utility Pole Removal
We went to check each site in person!
1 Yamate Kansen (Kumano section) <In progress>
Along Yamate Kansen, starting around JR Koshienguchi Station,
and continuing to around Nissan, west of Gardens, is the Kumano section.(The map is a bit hard to read, so apologies if this is slightly off 🙏)
Road widening work is currently underway along this part of Yamate Kansen.
It’s a pretty large-scale project, but once the road is widened and the utility poles are removed, it looks like it will become a much cleaner and easier-to-use road!
2 Ozone Line <In progress>
This is along Ozone Line. It runs from the intersection with Route 2 where “MINI Nishinomiya” is located,
to around this intersection. It’s near “Kobetsu Shido Juku Wam” and “Yakiniku Daiki.”
3 Yamate Kansen (Takamatsu section) <Planned>
Back along Yamate Kansen again. It starts around “JFE Advantech Co., Ltd.”(The company name had been written incorrectly. m(__)m)
and continues to around the intersection in front of “Life Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi.”
The south side of Gardens in this section,
and the west side of Gardens have already had the utility poles removed. I didn’t notice because of the trees and streetlights!
4 Fudabasuji Line <Planned>
The fourth location is along Fudabasuji. From the intersection with Route 2,
to the intersection with Route 43.
That’s north and south of Hanshin Nishinomiya Station.
5 West Route No. 259 <Planned>
On the map, I think it refers to this road northwest of Hanshin Nishinomiya Station, but…
Believe it or not, the utility poles have already been removed here 😂
The clean look really is different!
It continues to the intersection with Route 2, beside the Nishinomiya Post Office.
Lastly
Compared with other countries, Japan is said to be behind in removing utility poles, and it seems efforts are underway to promote it, even through legislation.
Those math problems like “There were two sparrows sitting on a power line…” might disappear someday 😅
Maybe our grandchildren will ask us, “What’s a utility pole?”… 😰
