Stafford County will consider burying power lines as part of its Route 1 improvement project.
The $11.2 million project will widen, and add turn lanes to Route 1 between Courthouse and Bells Hill roads in Stafford. Work on the project would begin in 2018 and be finished a year later.
It would cost an additional $2 million to bury the power lines along the half-mile stretch of road.
“Right now we have estimated the cost to relocate the overhead utilities at $2.5 million. It would cost an additional $2 million to place the utilities underground,” stated Alex Owsiak, Stafford County transportation project manager in an email. “That additional $2 million cost was not included in the project cost estimate as Stafford County would be solely responsible for paying the additional cost to underground the utilities.”
