Installation of new power poles begins

San Diego Gas and Electric is beginning work on their North County Transmission Enhancement Project to improve reliability on the line that runs from Carlsbad to the Torrey Hills Substation behind Torrey Pines High School. Construction is expected to begin next week.

According to Alan Dusi, SDG&E project manager; the company will remove some existing wooden lattice towers behind the school and replace them with two metal poles. Additionally, 1,500 feet of overhead wires from the poles to the nearby substation will go underground.

The current wood poles are 65 feet high with five “arms” coming off of them. While the replacement steel pole will be higher at 80 feet, it will be a singular pole with no arms.

Laura Copic, the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board’s resident power line expert, was pleased with the update.

“It’s not as major as I feared it would be,” said Copic, who noted she and the board would like a bit more advance notice in the future.

Workers have already been out marking the two-lane road off Lansdale Drive that heads back to Torrey Highlands Park, as during construction access will be restricted to just one lane.

Board member Dave McIntyre told Dusi he has already heard complaints from neighbors about worker noise - mostly car radios being used before the city’s allowed construction noise start time of 7 a.m. Dusi assured the board the workers would be notified to keep the noise down before the permitted time.