Columbia utility board recommends Vawter School Road route for new electric transmission line

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -

A Columbia citizen utility board recommended the city consider building a high-voltage electric transmission line through the southern part of the city.

The Water and Light Advisory Board made the decision at its Wednesday meeting. The board wants the Columbia City Council to consider a route across Nifong Boulevard, Vawter School Road and up Scott Boulevard.

The city has long tried to figure out where to build a 161-kV electric transmission in Columbia to increase electrical capacity and avoid federal regulatory issues. Voters approved bond funding for the project in 2015, but the city council nixed the project a year later after resident pushback against a route similar to the one being recommended on Wednesday.

The board acknowledged on Wednesday that the $34 million price tag on the transmission line project is steep, but is necessary for the city given its growth. The lines and poles would run from the Grindstone Substation to the Perche Creek Substation off Scott Boulevard.

Engineers at Black and Veatch also gave a cost breakdown of a route that goes from Grindstone to the Hinkson Creek substation on Providence Road and runs lines down Chapel Hill Road. The firm said it would cost $56 million.

The city council will ultimately decide whether or not to approve the project.