Leaning poles line part of Westheimer. Who is responsible for fixing them?

Leaning power poles along Westheimer raise safety concerns, prompting residents to question maintenance responsibility.

HOUSTON — A series of leaning power poles along Westheimer has become part of the neighborhood scenery for people who walk around the area. But with the threat of rain and wind, there is some concern about how much longer they’ll hold.

Electric, cable and telephone lines could be attached to the poles, but who is responsible for maintaining them remains a question. Some people who live and walk in the area say they don’t really care who is responsible — they just want to see the poles standing straight.

This story continues below.

Every day, Imanuel Carruio takes his 10-minute walk down Westheimer. Along the way, he comes across leaning poles and the occasional hanging wire.

“And these poles have always been like that. And when I take a break, I just take a walk. And honestly, I always see it,” he said.

The leaning poles have become a familiar sight, but Carruio said he doesn’t disregard the potential danger.

“No, I don’t touch him at all. No obviously. Yeah, I’m … I don’t care, but I’m not stupid. Yeah. I don’t want to touch it,” Carruio said.

The poles typically hold a variety of lines, including electric, cable and telephone lines. The question is, who maintains the poles?

CenterPoint said initially on Thursday that it likely has lines on the poles but that they did not belong to CenterPoint, meaning they did not have the right to repair them.

Friday morning, CenterPoint sent KHOU 11 an updated statement:

“We thank KHOU for bringing this issue to our attention and have a CenterPoint crew on the way to assess the poles and take the appropriate action. We encourage any customer who has concerns to report all potential hazards through our Outage Tracker’s “Report a Hazard” tool or by calling CenterPoint Energy at 713-207-2222 so we can promptly evaluate them.”

“Yes, it is. I just walk around it to avoid any issues. We wondered about it for years if anything was going to be done about it,” Jadawn Nickerson said.

She says the sidewalk is already narrow. Add speeding cars and dangling lines, she said, and the area becomes a hazard. Still, she doesn’t expect things to improve anytime soon — unless weather brings the poles down.

“Just to be aware, especially when it is stormy, to kind of lift that wire up some. It needs to be lifted, to be honest with you,” Nickerson said.

It’s not clear what’s causing the poles to lean. Carruio says it could be gravity or the foundation. Whatever the cause, he looks forward to a fix.

“Yeah. Honestly, what they have to do is just rebuild. … That’s what they got to do,” he said.

Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at newstips@khou.com or call 713-521-4310 and include the best way to reach you.