Power lines buried along A1A at last

JUPITER — After four years, a project to bury power lines along A1A in Jupiter has been completed.

“To my knowledge, the overhead utilities and poles that were scheduled to be removed has been completed on A1A from north of Jupiter Beach Road to U.S. 1,” said Thomas Driscoll, Jupiter’s director of engineering and public works.

Bill Orlove, a Florida Power & Light spokesperson, said the project was completed two months ago and consisted of burying just the “main power lines” along A1A.

Experts say buried lines are more reliable during a storm. The idea became increasingly popular after hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma, which left some people without power for 11 days.

“We saw that during Hurricane Irma buried power lines did better,” Orlove said. This is because no debris was hitting the lines.

But underground power lines have drawbacks, Orlove said.

Repairs take longer because a malfunction underground is tougher to detect than one aboveground. Also, repair crews must wait for floodwaters to recede before making repairs.

Jupiter’s power line project was part of an overall $8 million plan to spruce up the threequarter-mile waterfront road that was approved in November 2014. New drainage, bicycle lanes, landscaping, on-street parking and sidewalks also were completed.