WESTON POWER LINE EXPANSION APPROVED

A $29 million power line rebuild running through Weston will move forward, following approval this week by state utility regulators.

The Kelly-Bunker Hill-Blackbrook transmission line project, proposed in January by American Transmission Co., will replace 19 miles of deteriorating 115-kilovolt line between a substation in Weston and in the town of Ackley in Langlade County. The updated line will require clearing 22 acres of forested wetlands and nearly an acre of woodland.

At least three homes, all within the Stillwater Landing Mobile Home Community on Schofield Avenue in Weston, must be relocated to accommodate the project, according to ATC spokeswoman Jackie Olson.

“We are working with the tenants and owners to describe their relocation rights and benefits,” Olson says. “Now that the project is approved, we hope to help them make a smooth transition.”

More than 200 homes in Weston sit within 300 feet of the current line, but those homes are not expected to be impacted by the project, Olson says.

Right-of-way clearing will begin on the project later this year, with construction anticipated to begin next summer. The new line will be complete by late fall 2019.

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