Denton Utility Project Won't Go Through Neighborhood

Denton has scrapped a plan that would route a power line through a neighborhood.

Denton Municipal Electric has recommended alternate routes that would take the transmission line around the East Oaks subdivision instead of through it.

"We are so relieved," resident Toni Abernathy. "We are ready for a block party."

DME is rebuilding an existing transmission line in Northeast Denton. A larger one is needed to power the growing area.

"The neighborhood as we knew it was going to have a huge 132,000-volt power line and big steel poles coming through it," Abernathy said. "This house would go. That house would go. The house behind it would go."

DME spokeswoman Lisa Lemons said the company listened to citizens' concerns and came up with new routes. Its preferred "purple" route goes around Abernathy's neighborhood, affects  fewer homes and costs less money than the original plan.

"That route is a direct result of that citizen input," Lemons said.

"We were driven," Abernathy said. "We were driven to find an answer."

DME's preferred transmission line route must be approved by the utilities board and by the Denton City Council before construction begins.

DME will hold a neighborhood meeting to discuss the recommended route on Oct. 3 at the Denton Civic Center.