20 Dec 2018

£2m power project set to benefit 22,000 customers in Lancaster and Morecambe

The region’s power network operator, Electricity North West, is investing more than £2m to upgrade the power network in Lancaster, Morecambe and the surrounding areas.

The project, which will start on the 7th January, will upgrade 7km of underground power cables, which have been in place since the 1950s, with new updated electricity cables.

Already 1,000 letters have been issued to local residents and businesses and information about the project reached more than a 77,500 customers at the Winter in the City event in Lancaster back in November.

Daniel Garner, transmission north manager for Electricity North West, said: “We take great pride in powering the lives of more than 22,000 customers in Lancaster and Morecambe and now is the time to make sure everyone continues to receive the power they need when they need it for a another 60 years and more.

“We know that although we’ve worked hard to keep disruption to a minimum, digging up local roads is never easy for people and commuters, so we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience and support to allow us to carry out this essential work safely.”

To allow engineers to safely carry out the work there will be temporary traffic lights on Caton Road from Monday, 7th January to approximately Friday, 17th February.

The second phase of the work will start in the middle of February which will include temporary traffic lights on Owen Road lasting approximately to the end of March.

Electricity North West will closely monitor the flow of traffic but please allow extra time for your journey and try to avoid the area where possible. For more information and updates please visit www.enwl.co.uk/lancaster.

This major investment in the city’s electricity infrastructure follows the £2.6m flood defence work at Caton Road substation completed by Electricity North West. The work has lifted key equipment three metres from the ground to ensure it would not be affected by flood water following damage caused when the River Lune burst its banks during Storm Desmond in December 2015.