Orinda City Council: PG&E Presentation On Miner Road Project Tuesday

by Jim Caroompas

After a decade of delay, the Orinda City Council will hear from PG&E representatives Tuesday night about a plan to place power lines beneath the ground on a mile and a half stretch of Miner Rd. 

According to a staff report, the plan to "underground" the utility lines was first approved by the council in 2004. But the project was not on the PG&E priority list, and has sat dormant for ten years. 

Now, the utility company has moved the project to the front of the line. But because so much time has gone by, the council wants to hold another public hearing on the project. Tuesday's presentation will be for information; the council will hold a formal public hearing on the project at a subsequent meeting.

The plan is to remove power, cable and telephone lines now strung on power poles across Miner Rd. from Camino Pablo to Lombardy Lane, and to place them in underground trenches. The original plan involved PG&E digging trenches on the edge of Miner Rd. and creating a walking path over the trench area.

But that plan has since fallen by the wayside--now the proposal is to dig the trench mostly in the middle of the road, with no walkway along the side of the road.

PG&E says that utility lines underground are safer and more secure during storms, and make for a more scenic environment. 

Construction would begin in the spring of 2014. There is currently no information about the estimated cost of the project. That will be discussed at the public hearing, according to the staff report. 

The council meets Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Orinda Library, 26 Orinda Way.