Undergrounding Utilities

One of the core components of scenic and infrastructureImprovements for the Community Business Center (CBC) Is the undergrounding of utility lines, particularly around the intersection of Chain Bridge Road and Old Dominion Drive.

Citizens groups, landowners and businesses have identified the removal of unsightly overhead utility lines as an important element of the CBC revitalization process, from the standpoint of improving both the physical character of the CBC and reliability of service.

The effort will necessarily be a long-term process and involves several different phases. The MRC has been working with the Supervisor’s office, the County staff, and affected landowners to begin the first phase of the project, which will encompass the area along Chain Bridge Road from Corner Lane (by the Sunoco station) to Laughlin Avenue (at the corner with Chicken Out and Chevy Chase Bank), and extending along Old Dominion Drive from the Shell station to approximately Center Street (behind the PNC Bank). This phase of the project will tie in with the undergrounding along Lowell and Emerson Avenues that was undertaken as part of the Palladium project.

The various utility companies and the County staff have finalized engineering studies identifying the locations of the necessary duct banks and associated above-ground equipment. With those studies, MRC representatives have been contacting owners of the properties along the proposed route to discuss the project and to obtain the easements required for the project.