The Virginia State Corporation Commission has approved a proposal by Appalachian Power Co. that will upgrade electrical service to 7,100 customers in Roanoke, Botetourt and Bedford counties along the U.S. 460 corridor.

The SCC approved the utility company's request Wednesday for the Lake Forest Project, which calls for constructing a three-mile overhead power line and substation in southern Botetourt County.

The $8 million project -- with relatively low-grade transmission lines that hang from single, 100-foot-tall poles -- is designed to improve electrical service and avoid what had been routine power outages in the past.

Last summer, about 600 property owners in the vicinity of Laymantown and Mountain Pass roads in Blue Ridge were notified that their land lies near the project site. They were asked to comment on alternative routes that would lessen the impact on private property and reduce the visibility of the power lines.

Appalachian spokesman Todd Burns said those comments were used by the utility company to design the footprint of the power lines and the location of the substation.

"We supported what the public brought forward in terms of alternatives," he said.

Another visual benefit of the project is that it allows Appalachian to remove about 2.5 miles of an existing power line, including a section that crosses Rainbow Forest Lake, west of Laymantown Road.

Burns said an increase in demand from a growing number of customers along the 460 corridor was taxing the existing power lines.

"Up in that general area we've seen a tremendous amount of growth," he said.

Work on the project will begin in January, with the new lines scheduled to go into service by June.