MEA transmission line talks continue

WASILLA — About 50 people turned out for a Matanuska Electric Association open house May 21 to discuss the best route for a large transmission line that will pass through the city.

Judging by an informal sticker-based poll, attendees appeared to strongly favor the proposed “Gully Route,” one of four general routes between the Herning and Lazelle substations. The route in question is estimated to have the least financial and property impact. The utility was waiting to collect feedback before officially selecting a recommended route, officials said. Other routes would pass near the Valley Cinema, go through the Fairview Loop neighborhood, or travel even farther south. Officials held the meeting at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla.

One resident who attended said she hadn’t made up her mind which route she preferred, though she knew which route she opposed.

“I haven’t gotten around to the preferred, because you have to look at so many things,” said resident Bonnie Dinkel. “I know which one that I don’t want.”

The Southern Route, demarcated on most MEA-provided maps with an orange line, would go near her property and traverse some nearby wetlands. It is also the route with the highest potential cost and impact, according to MEA figures.

Dinkel said she wasn’t sure about the Gully Route, though, in part because of its proximity to numerous areas with heavy traffic.

“There’s always a lot of people near Walmart, and near this sports thing, and you got these high transmission lines that go right between them,” she said.

Her primary concern is for construction, but also for clean up in the event of emergencies, she said.

Officials also were available to talk more about the aesthetics of the proposed lines, like Greg Huffman, an engineer with Dryden and LaRue Inc.

The towers people will likely see through the neighborhoods won’t be as tall as towers that traverse the Palmer Hay Flats, though tower heights could vary as a function of terrain and other factors. The towers on the flats, which run roughly from the Eklutna Generating Station to the Hospital Substation, are from 80- to 95-feet tall, Huffman said. The structures going through town will likely be from 65- to 85-feet tall, he said.

“As you get into the city areas where you’ve got more obstacles and more things you’re trying to avoid, and more corners you’re trying to go around, the spans shorten up, the structures will get shorter,” Huffman said.

But as a result of those obstacles, the price of constructing the line goes up, he said.

Another factor driving cost is the lack of utility easements along some of the alternate routes, said MEA spokeswoman Julie Estey. Without an easement to work with, the company has to buy property, Estey said. The wires must also traverse a less direct distance between the substations, making the lines longer, she said.

The four routes presented at the open house are essentially alternates. The company had sought to route transmission lines along the Parks Highway, but the Wasilla Planning Commission rejected that plan.

MEA and city officials have worked to establish an alternate route to deliver additional electricity to the city since.

A public hearing on the line routes is scheduled for 6 p.m., June 11 at the Menard Center.

For more information, visit mea.coop/wasillatline.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.