The work itself requires construction and any additional maintenance work may require construction (eg. digging a trench in the road / sidewalks). There's always some maintenance needed and I suspect vocal NIMBY people just don't want to tolerate any minor inconvenience, not simply any change.

Then again, maybe it's the same demand for power and independence that we are seeing with "Karens", masks, protests, Confederate statues, anti-intellectualism, conspiracy theories, etc. As individuals feel more powerless, they will almost certainly lash out at anything they can, including local utilities disrupting their life/convenience.