The first week of October, construction crews removed a number of redundant utility poles from along Cranberry Highway. 

Construction began in 2019 on upgrades for Cranberry Highway. The $17.4 million dollar project revamped a stretch of highway from the Cranberry Plaza Shopping Center to a point approximately 900 feet east of the Red Brook Pond intersection.

The construction attempted to improve safety by widening the road, adding medians, upgrading traffic signals and more. The road saw frequent crashes prior to the construction, leading to concerns about safety. 

Before the last stages of construction could begin, utility company Eversource needed to remove a set of utility poles from along the side of the highway. 

Those poles came down the first week of October, said Eversource media relations member Christopher McKinnon. McKinnon said the last of the poles came down Friday, Oct. 6. 

The state Department of Transportation has previously estimated a late 2024 completion to the project. The department did not respond by press time to a request for an update.