UPDATE: As of 12 p.m., Consumers Energy was reporting about 900 outages and estimating that power would be fully restored by 4 p.m.
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The City of Grand Rapids says a traffic crash knocked down a utility pole and power lines Wednesday morning, causing more than 1,000 widespread power outages.
Consumers Energy is reporting updated outage numbers on its outage website.
The crash occurred around 7:47 a.m. at the intersection of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue/Grandville Avenue and Hall Street. Several traffic signals were out across the southwest side of Grand Rapids, as well as the intersections on Division Avenue between Burton and Wealthy streets.
The city said in a news release that motorists should treat the intersections as four-way stops. Several city parks are being impacted. The city says utility repair crews are working to fix the problem. As of 8:45 a.m., Consumers was saying it expected the power to be restored by noon.
Here is more information from the Consumers Energy news release:
The intersection of Cesar E. Chavez and Hall SW is currently closed to traffic.
Traffic lights on Fulton Street west of the Grand River are also affected. Additionally, the power outage is impacting several City parks and traffic signals throughout the West and Southwest areas of the city.
City and utility crews are en route to address the situation. Drivers are urged to use caution and treat intersections with non-functioning signals as four-way stops.
Updates will be provided as information becomes available.
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