Hydro One advises that construction work on electricity transmission line will cause traffic slowdowns on 401 near Milton this weekend

Helicopters stringing conductor (wire) onto new Hydro One transmission towers across Highway 401, near the James Snow Parkway  off-ramp in Milton (May 7, 2011).  Hydro One is building the 180-kilometre, double-circuit 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line on a widened existing corridor, extending from the Bruce Power Facility in Kincardine to Hydro One's Milton Switching Station. The new line is expected to be in service by December 2012.

TORONTO, May 13 /CNW/ - Hydro One is advising motorists travelling in the Milton area this weekend that there will be some traffic slowdowns as power lines are installed across Highway 401 near the James Snow Parkway off-ramp in Milton.

Traffic will not be stopped on the 401, just slowed. The OPP will direct motorists during the planned slowdowns and the Ministry of Transportation will handle signage.

Crews will be stringing conductor (wire) onto new transmission towers. Last weekend helicopters were used to string the conductor across the highway, and traffic was also slowed on several occasions for safety reasons.

Several short traffic slowdowns are expected to occur between Saturday morning and Sunday, during daylight hours. Hydro One and its construction contractor, Valard, worked with the Ministry of Transportation and the OPP to plan the stringing work across the highway.

The new transmission line is expected to be in service by December 2012. The approximately 180-kilometre, double-circuit 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line is being built on a widened existing corridor, extending from the Bruce Power Facility in Kincardine to Hydro One's Milton Switching Station.

Hydro One delivers electricity safely, reliably and responsibly to homes and businesses across the province of Ontario and owns and operates Ontario's 29,000 km high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 123,000 km low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.3 million end-use customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly owned by the Province of Ontario.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

Helicopters stringing conductor (wire) onto new Hydro One transmission towers across Highway 401, near the James Snow Parkway  off-ramp in Milton (May 7, 2011).  Hydro One is building the 180-kilometre, double-circuit 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line on a widened existing corridor, extending from the Bruce Power Facility in Kincardine to Hydro One's Milton Switching Station. The new line is expected to be in service by December 2012.

For further information:

contact Hydro One Media Relations 24 hours a day at 1-877-506-7584 (toll-free in Ontario only) or 416-345-6868. Our website is www.hydrone.com. Photos of the stringing work can be found on: https://picasaweb.google.com/HydroOneNetworks/LineStringingByHelicopterInMiltonOntario?feat=directlink