New route maps released for a high-voltage power line

CASSVILLE, Wis. — New proposed route maps were released Friday for a high-voltage power line that would stretch through Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties and end in Dubuque County.

While some route options have been taken off the table, the general starting and end points remained the same, as did plans to cross the Mississippi River at Cassville.

The proposed 345-kilovolt Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line will stretch 125 miles, following existing low-voltage transmission lines, county roadways and state highways, according to the three companies behind the plan — American Transmission Co., ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative. It will start at ATC’s Cardinal Substation in the Town of Middleton and run to ITC’s Hickory Creek Substation in Dubuque County.

The new corridors released Friday — not all of which will be used — cross about 1,900 parcels of land. That’s 2,800 parcels less than the corridors highlighted in a previous proposal.

Changes included the removal of corridors that extended north of Platteville, west of Livingston, and north of Barneveld.

ITC Midwest spokesman Tom Petersen said a project team revised the corridors based on public input gathered during open houses, the project’s website and telephone contact from landowners.

“All of that is taken into consideration as we look at it, just as we are required to look at the lay of the land, the topography,” he said. “We’re looking for feedback from landowners as we continue to narrow the corridors into eventual proposed routes.”

The $500 million project must be reviewed by the regulatory Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and requires federal approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers....