BUENA PARK : Overhead Utility Wires Going Under

Utility wires along Commonwealth Avenue near the Fullerton Airport will be placed underground.

The City Council this week unanimously approved the $774,000 project, which calls for the undergrounding of overhead lines along Commonwealth Avenue from Beach Boulevard to the eastern city limits.

All but about $4,000 of the cost will be covered by Southern California Edison. Under state law, all major utilities must provide funds to local governments for conversion of overhead lines. The city receives about $248,000 annually for this purpose.

Instead of making property owners pay for a share of the project, the council also agreed to set aside $20,000 of the fund to cover these costs. The project area includes 61 properties, but only 19 of them receive some type of service from overhead lines.

“It is not going to cost anybody anything,” said city design manager Loren Tuthill, referring to the property owners. Tuthill said 62 poles will be removed, 44 from Buena Park and 18 in the adjacent city of Fullerton. Fullerton officials are expected to approve their portion of the project next month.

Commonwealth Avenue will be the 10th undergrounding project in the city. The last one took place along Beach Boulevard about five years ago.

The project will take about six months to complete and is scheduled to start around January, 1992, officials said.