Web Extra! Updated 4:44 p.m. 5/15/2009

A phone line outage that is affecting some 276 AT&T customers in Riverside could last until early next week, according to Village Manager Kathleen Rush.

Phone service went out Tuesday, and residents were initially told by phone company officials that connections would be restored today. However, at least one customer on Bartram Road said the latest word from AT&T is that it could be Tuesday before service resumes.

In all, more than 700 phone customers are being inconvenienced by the outage in parts of Lyons, Cicero, Berwyn and Riverside.

According to an e-mail sent to the Landmark just after 3 p.m. by AT&T spokeswoman Meghan Roskopf, the phone company "is currently working to restore service to customers ... after a third party damaged cables located under the Burlington Northern railroad tracks during a construction project. 

"AT&T crews were immediately dispatched and will continue to work around the clock until service is fully restored. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused."

Roskopf added that the company responsible for the damage is not Nicor, which is in the midst of a large-scale gas main replacement project in Riverside. The incident occurred in Cicero, said Roskopf, and was part of an unrelated railroad project. Fixing the line will not impact train traffic, she said.

"Restoration efforts began as soon as AT&T was able to obtain permits in order to work within the train yard," Roskopf said. "We are also currently trying to protect the area where we're working from water damage, as the weather doesn't always cooperate with us.

"Additional customers will continue to come back into service as restoration efforts continue."