SBC Phone Service Restored After I-74 Workers Cut Cable

PEORIA – Phone service in the North Valley was restored Tuesday after a contractor working on the Interstate 74 overhaul inadvertently severed a fiber optics cable Monday.

The service outage, which appeared to have sporadically affected SBC customers between the Murray Baker and McClugage bridges, lasted less than a day, compared to a similar situation in February that cut communications for up to five days.

“Everyone was restored in about 18 hours,” said SBC spokesman Steve Kauffman. “We don’t have a number of people affected – it was just that northern area.”

SBC’s corporate communications policy does not allow the company to release the number of customers affected by or the area of an outage.

The telephone line was cut about 11 a.m. Monday in the area of Eaton Street between Washington and Adams streets, according to Upgrade 74 spokeswoman Beth Mosher.

“One of the contractors was moving the utility line and accidentally cut a fiber optic cable,” she said.

Kauffman said the line was marked, but crews digging out the side of an embankment cut into the cable.

In early February, a contractor working near Adams and Fayette streets severed a bundle of wires while updating storm sewers. SBC never said how many customers were affected by that outage.

Losing phone service for the second time was CityLift, which operates the city’s paratransit service.

Angel Marinich, general manager of MV Transportation, which runs the service, said dispatchers relied on cellular phones to run the operation until land lines were restored about 7 a.m. Tuesday.

“Thank God (Monday) was a holiday,” she said. “The calls weren’t that busy.”

Susan Butler, owner of Green Plantscapes Florist, said her plant shop at 1208 NE Adams St. and the business next door lost service Monday, but that the business across the street was not affected.

“It was fixed quicker than last time,” she said. “And of course, no compensation was offered.”