The new concrete and metal utility poles, which are replacing skinnier, wooden utility poles, have been going up around the city in recent years. They are designed to fortify Houston's power grid while making its electricity infrastructure more resilient. But many community members, particularly in the Montrose neighborhood, consider them to be eyesores and obstructions, and there also have been complaints about a lack of advance notice from CenterPoint, which has legal authority from the state of Texas and a franchise agreement with the city that essentially allows the company to place the poles where it sees fit within the city's public right-of-way. Houston resident Simon Newton, who likes to walk and his ride bicycle around his Montrose neighborhood, has been avoiding some of the sidewalks in recent weeks. He said their is not enough sidewalk for him to safely use because CenterPoint Energy began installing gigantic new utility poles in the middle of some of them. "I avoid ...