PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Public Utility District discussed a new approach to updating transmission lines along Sims Way. The plan, 30 percent through design, would reduce estimated costs from $6.2 million to about $700,000.
The previous plan was to underground the lines, but the project’s cost estimates showed the direction to be untenable. Next steps, including the request-for-proposal (RFP) process, could begin as soon as January or February.
The new plan, discussed last month, would replace current poles, locating a reduced number of them at the edge of the Port of Port Townsend’s property. It would replace wire, improving the size to more efficiently support the 115,000-volt line.
“With the alternate overhead design, and considering current demands on the line, we could essentially serve double the amount of load in this portion of our service territory,” Jefferson PUD General Manager Joseph Wilson stated in a news release.
The Sims Way project, a joint project between the Port of Port Townsend, the city of Port Townsend and the PUD, is a multi-purpose project intended to improve the safety and reliability of transmission lines between Sims Way and the Boat Haven Marina while creating economic development opportunities by extending the port’s usable property.
“It reduces the risk of outages on the transmission system, so there’s an economic development benefit there from improved reliability,” Wilson said at the November meeting. “But the primary benefit is allowing the port to potentially expand and push their operations further out, so they could potentially have a larger area to do their work, and an increased safety margin to do their work.”
The project would include removal and replacement of a row of poplar trees which would contribute to both goals.
PUD commissioner Jeff Randall characterized what he remembered of the safety concerns present on the site. Tall boats have come into contact with the line and the trees have come into contact with the line.
People in the boatyard have reported feeling tingling sensations, Randall said.
“We’ve had voltage, I guess it comes through the trees and into the ground, is that right?” Randall asked.
“Voltage does not get imposed through tree proximity to foreign objects,” Wilson clarified. “When you do have metallic objects in proximity to a transmission line, there is voltage that can be imposed, and if there’s not a good ground there, that voltage can build up. So if you were to park a truck underneath a transmission line on rubber tires in dry conditions, you’ll feel something when you touch the metal body of that truck. That’s, we believe to be some of the underlying concerns or perceptions of people in the port.”
The current lines don’t pose a safety hazard, Wilson said, but there is room for improved safety conditions.
Reliability improvements come in large part from removing the poplars. Their close proximity to the line could lead to shutting the transmission line off in cases of heavy wind.
Removal of the poplars is planned to take place in late February.
The city of Port Townsend is responsible for installing native landscaping in their absence, as well as selective tree removal on the north side of Sims Way.
There likely will be a walking trail added in the corridor as well.
Once feedback from the port and the city has been incorporated into the design, the PUD can move forward with its RFP.
Funding for the project will come from the Jefferson County Public Infrastructure Fund (PIF) and the PUD, about $350,000 from each, according to the news release.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
