Perkins Road homeowner comes home from work to huge utility pole in front of house.

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BATON ROUGE - Last Thursday, Doug Buras came home from work to find a massive utility pole directly in front of his house, blocking his view and a portion of the sidewalk.

Buras, who has lived in his home on Perkins Road for 30 years, says the pole's sudden appearance blindsided him, leading him to question Entergy's decision-making and communication.

"It may not seem like much, but it's gut-wrenching to us," Buras said.

While utility poles have always lined the street, Buras says he's never seen anything of this scale.

"The scale of this thing is just incredible. You can't miss it," he said.

Buras has received no detailed notice about the timing or exact location of the new pole, even though he had heard there would be utility work in the neighborhood. Now, the pole's placement not only dominates his front and back yard views, but also blocks part of the sidewalk, a route heavily used by local joggers and walkers on their way to City Park and the University Lakes.

"There's no sidewalk on the other side of the street; it stops right here," he explained.

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Buras has suggested the pole could have been placed along his property line or adjacent to his shared driveway. However, Entergy told 2 On Your Side those locations weren't possible due to the presence of a water line and because the existing shorter pole is reserved for telecommunication and distribution lines, whereas the new structure is a transmission line requiring a larger footprint.

"We're all for progress, but the size of this pole, and the placement of this pole is really excessive and invasive," Buras said.

Entergy responded that the contractor worked to position the pole as far south as possible in order to avoid putting it directly in front of the home and cited several factors, such as underground utilities and the structural requirements of the new, more resilient pole, as influencing their final decision. The company maintains that the placement was necessary and done with consideration for both safety and service improvements.

Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis has been looped in on the situation and went to look at the pole himself. He remains in contact with Buras.

For now, Buras is left looking at the large silver pole in front of his house. He hopes future infrastructure projects come with better communication and less disruptive planning.

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