Appalachian Power to upgrade Roanoke-to-Lexington 500-kilovolt transmission line

Appalachian Power Co. will spend $40 million to upgrade a transmission line that runs from Roanoke to Lexington.

The project to replace the wire on the 500-kilovolt line is part of a regional upgrade to the utility’s grid in central and Western Virginia.

Work on the line, which begins at the Cloverdale substation and parallels Interstate 81 to a point about 7 miles south of Lexington, will take two years to complete.

All of the work will take place within Appalachian’s right-of-way, the utility said in a news release.

Although older towers will carry 90 percent of the new line, plans call for the replacement of seven towers and the construction of four new
ones.

Company officials will be available to answer questions about the project from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 10 at James River High School in Buchanan.

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