100 FOOT SECTION OF JETTON CLOSED AT W. CATAWBA

April 18. By Dave Yochum. Accidents will happen. And thank goodness no one was injured when a dump truck with its bed still up struck a traffic light at the busy intersection of West Catawba and Jetton Road. The accident, which happened just before 3 pm on Friday, bent the mast or pole that holds up the arm and traffic light.

The big Kenworth driven by Charles E. Cruz of Concord sustained $200 worth of damage.

BENT OUTTA SHAPE

The NC Dept. of Transportation has closed Jetton between West Catawba and the entrance to Magnolia Plaza at Jack’s Corner Tap for at least a week to inspect the damage and replace the pole.

The police report says the truck was traveling leaving the site of the new Chase Bank under construction at the corner of Jetton and West Catawba.

A ‘loud sound’

Turning left onto West Catawba toward Westmoreland, Cruz “said he heard a loud sound come from his truck.”

Cruse “got out and realized that he forgot to lower the dump bed back down on his dump truck,” the police report says.

The construction site manager said he saw the crash occur but could not notify the driver because he did not have his phone number.

Cost?

There’s no word exactly how much it will cost to repair, but signalized lights don’t come cheap. A four-way intersection with lights and poles—plus design and engineering—can cost upwards of $400,000.