Roselle residents protest ComEd power line plan

Roselle residents held a protest Friday against ComEd's plans to install a 9-mile-long high-voltage power line that would come right through their neighborhood, ABC 7 Chicago reported.

Some homeowners near the planned West Central Transmission Line, which would connect substations in Bartlett and Itasca and run along the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, are concerned it will detract from the villages' aesthetics and decrease home values. The line and its 140- to 170-foot steel poles would back up to the current line and cost $50 million to $60 million.

The Roselle residents Friday told ABC 7 they were also concerned about the lines' health effects, and that the project was a surprise to them in December.

"To be honest with you, if we knew about this, we wouldn't have even bought it," Jason Hanwell said about his house in the neighborhood around Logan Street. "We wouldn't have considered this place,"

ComEd has said about 100,000 households and businesses in Hanover Park, Bartlett, Roselle, Streamwood, Schaumburg, Bloomingdale and Itasca could benefit from the new line because it would provide better reliability. The route along the Elgin-O'Hare was chosen because it would make minimal impact, ComEd has said.

"We'll continue to understand what your concerns are and work with you and your community leaders," Fidel Marquez of ComEd told the residents Friday, ABC 7 reported.

ComEd has held meetings for the public in Roselle and Schaumburg over the last several weeks, and another one is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday at Schaumburg Township headquarters, 1 Illinois Blvd., Hoffman Estates. Topics include the effects of the transmission line on township residents and property values, and the township's response to the ComEd project.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Commerce Commission is accepting public comments regarding ComEd's plan at www.icc.illinois.gov/docket/comment.