Additional details about the PPL Electric Utilities transmission line rebuilding project, estimated to cost $35 million, were forthcoming at a recent public information meeting.

About 45 area residents attended the Oct. 28 meeting in the Upper Saucon Fire Company social quarters, 4900 Lanark Road, Center Valley, Upper Saucon Township, where 12 PPL representatives explained several panel displays and maps depicting the project.

The project includes two aspects. The first, the Elliot Heights Project, to begin in February 2016 and to be completed in June 2016, extends roughly from the East Emmaus Avenue area, where it ties into the Hosensack-Seidersville Transmission Line Project.

In eastern Salisbury Township, the Elliott Heights Project extends north along an existing right-of-way over East Emmaus Avenue; through the western side of William H. Laubach Memorial Park, over Lehigh and Fairview avenues; over Lehigh Avenue, East Susquehanna Street, Lehigh Mountain and the Lehigh River to Elliot Heights in west Bethlehem.

The first .6 miles of the Elliott Heights Project uses an inactive power line right-of-way through Laubach Park. The remaining 2.4 miles will be rebuilt in the existing right-of-way. Existing lattice steel and wood pole structures will be replaced with single steel monopoles. There will be 21 property owners impacted by the project.

The Elliott Heights Project project is part of an upgrade to 9,300 customers, including St. Luke’s University Hospital - Bethlehem, in Fountain Hill.

PPL has a right-of- way through Laubach Park, for which a Master Site Plan is underway, preparatory to possible improvements at the 14.25-acre park.

PPL officials addressed the Sept. 21 Laubach Park Master Plan Committee meeting and met this past summer with the Salisbury Township administration about the Elliott Heights Project.

Salisbury Township commissioners voted 5-0 at the Aug. 27 meeting to approve a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Highway Occupancy Permit on behalf of PPL. The township applied for the permit because it owns Laubach Park, which borders Fairview Avenue, which is state-owned and maintained. PPL would access Laubach from Fairview to work on the project.

Pending Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approval, the Hosensack-Seidersville Transmission Line Project, expected to start in June 2017 and to be completed in December 2018, will rebuild an existing 14.6-mile, double-circuit 69-kilovolt line from the PPL Seidersville substation in Lower Saucon Township through Salisbury, Upper Saucon and Lower Milford townships to the Hosensack substation.

PPL Electric Utilities will submit a project application to the PUC for review and approval. The PUC provides opportunity for residents to participate in the review.

Single-shaft steel poles about 95-feet-tall will replace existing poles and lattice-style towers. Most of the poles on the line were built in the early 1950s and need to be replaced, according to PPL.

“Much of the existing line is 60-90 years old and must be rebuilt to current engineering standards,” PPL stated. The line will continue to operate at 69 kv, but is designed at 138 kv for future growth.

PPL has stated, “Completion of this project will allow the continued operation of the line with increased reliability and will decrease costs associated with repairs this aging line has experienced. This work will also increase reliability through improved lightning protection, replacement of wood poles and other measures.”

According to PPL information distributed at the Upper Saucon meeting, “The line will be rebuilt in the current right of way for most of the project, but some new right of way may be required in a few locations.” Typically, the right of way is from 50- to 100-feet-wide. “PPL Electric may seek to expand the right of way in certain areas or obtain additional tree clearing rights.”

Agreements for construction access may be needed outside of the right of way in certain areas based on terrain and engineering design, according to PPL, with a right of way representative contacting affected property owners to discuss the transmission line route, easement and construction.

Easements give PPL Electric the right to cross property with the power line and to maintain that line. The property owner maintains ownership of the land.

“We will do everything possible to reach amicable agreements with all property owners and minimize impacts on the local communities and environment,” PPL stated.

Construction may include: tree trimming and clearing to install new poles and provide adequate safety clearance, temporary access road construction, staging of materials, equipment, poles and wire, removal of existing structures and installation of new transmission poles and wires.

The proposed project schedule is:

Fall 2015: Public input,

Second Quarter 2016: Real estate negotiations complete,

Second Quarter 2016: Application filing with PUC,

Fourth Quarter 2017: Transmission line engineering and permitting,

First Quarter 2018: Clearing and line construction begins, and

December 2019: Project in service.

PPL balances “a wide variety of factors in the siting process.” Those factors include, but are not limited to: the presence of existing buildings and homes, cultural and natural resources, threatened or endangered species of plants or animals, recreation areas, existing infrastructure, land use, conservation land, slopes and line length.

The rebuild will be constructed to minimize the impact to ecologically and culturally sensitive resources, including threatened, endangered or rare species and natural communities; wetlands, streams and regulated floodplains, and National Register listed or eligible resources, PPL stated.

“PPL Electric Utilities will work hard to minimize any impacts on the natural environment. We will work cooperatively with regulatory agencies, obtain all required permits and meet any environmental requirements and regulations under the terms of our permits,” stated PPL.

PPL Electric Utilities is a subsidiary of PPL Corp. providing electric delivery service to 1.4 million customers in eastern and central Pennsylvania.

For more information about the project, contact Melinda Stumpf, PPL regional affairs director at MStumpf@pplweb.com, 610-774-5249 or 1-855-285-7838.