MILWAUKEE -- Part of The Hop Milwaukee's overhead wire system was likely taken down by a chunk of snow and ice from a highway overpass Wednesday night, the streetcar's operator said.
Photos from a FOX6 News viewer show a support arm for the streetcar's electric wire left dangling over North Broadway at East Clybourn Street.
Darryll Simpson, GM for streetcar operator Transdev, says a witness told them he saw snow and ice come off the Interstate 794 overpass and hit the support arm."There was some debris that came off the highway," said Simpson. "Probably snow and ice that struck our support pole and damaged our cantilevered arm and caused it to fail."Several poles that hold up the streetcar's electric wire are within feet of the I-794 overpass.
The Hop crosses under the highway on both Milwaukee and Broadway.Simpson says Transdev and city officials will look at whether this is a design oversight and what can be done about snow and ice from I-794.
The complete story here > Chunk of snow and ice from I-794 is likely culprit for Milwaukee streetcar support arm collapse