South Mission reopens after pole replacement

Part of South Mission Road was completely closed to through traffic all day Thursday, Feb. 3, and a good part of Friday, Feb. 4. The closure was just north of Green Canyon on the southbound side and just north of Via Encinas on the northbound side. An area resident said, "We occasionally see traffic diverted into our residential area, but this incident ran all day and well into the night."

The closure began in the early morning hours Thursday and was reportedly scheduled to end at 5 p.m. according to a ham radio report. SDG&E was replacing a power pole and had signs up the day before warning of the closure. Traffic was diverted onto Alta Vista and Winterwarm and "brought an extraordinary amount of traffic to the narrow residential roads," a resident said.

There were no reports of power outages via ham radio, so residents speculated that perhaps SDG&E was working on live high tension lines running across South Mission. The resident added, "Since the detour route involved several sharp turns on narrow residential roads with heavy traffic, this incident will be remembered by many."

An SDG&E spokesman confirmed Friday afternoon that it was a transmission pole that was replaced, after maintenance crews noticed its condition. Because they closed that part of the road, they were able to finish the job in two days, he said.