In order to upgrade equipment dating from the 1980s and increase future carrying capacity, Dominion Energy over the next year and a half will install new electric-transmission lines along 3.9 miles of the Washington & Old Dominion Regional Trail in the Vienna area.
Project officials detained the initiative, and the two detour periods that will be required, at the Vienna Town Council’s June 3 meeting.
Dominion’s Transmission Line 202 runs parallel with the trail and crosses over Interstates 495 and 66, plus property owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, on its route between the Clark and Idylwood substations.
Phase 1, set to begin this summer and wrap up in the first quarter of 2025, will replace 2.8 miles of conductor lines and necessitate a 4.6-mile-long detour in November. This project phase will extend between the Clark substation and Sandburg Street.
Phase 2, to be executed in summer 2025 between Sandburg Street and Gallows Road, will involve 1.1 miles of conductor lines and a 3.1-mile rerouting of trail traffic.
Dominion officials then will test and energize the newly installed conductor lines along the project’s route.
The project will not involve replacement of any transmission towers, and the lines’ voltage will be kept steady at 230 kilovolts.
Dominion has arranged to detour pedestrian and bicycle traffic to the south during two phases of the project. Detours will be put in place for one to two weeks during both phases and will be lifted on weekends.
Dominion officials will keep the public informed about the project and its detours via a Web app, as well as digital and print advertising.
Project officials said they would take special precautions to stage work equipment on a parking lot across from the Town Green, and would consider modifying the detour route through Vienna to skirt busy roadways such as Park Street, S.E., and Lawyers Road, N.W.
Project leaders also have been coordinating with NOVA Parks and the Fairfax County government and public schools.
The work will stop short of the Northside Park entrance and the project will not cause any power outages, officials said.
To learn more about the project, visit DominionEnergy.com/ClarkIdylwood.
