WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - Eyesores and safety are concerns for people in a few Wichita neighborhoods.

It is all resulting from Evergy's plan to rebuild parts of the existing electrical infrastructure between Mossman and Wichita State.

According to Evergy Communications Manager, Kayley Bohlen, "We completed a routing study to study various potential routes between those two substations and two came out to be viable options."

Those two are the existing routes in the Redbud trail. Some other routes include 9th and Green, 9th and Volutsia, 11th and Green, and 14th and Hydraulic.

One homeowner said these power lines are just ugly and she wants them taken down but her other concern outweighs aesthetics. "It's just kind of scary living in an area like this and you don't know what's in these power lines not to mention the fact that this power line is so tall." "If we had a huge tornado or something they could fall on my home," said Helen Abdul-Raheem.

Evergy also plans to expand the substation at Mossman and Chautauqua which has many homeowners fearing for their safety.  They wonder how much wattage will be going through their neighborhood and how that will affect them. Their bigger concern is whether will they be able to stay in their homes.
According to District 1 Council Member, Brandon Johnson, State stature gives utilities the power of eminent domain if they need it for what they want.

According to Bohlen, they are working with the landowners to discuss purchasing the property needed. Bohlen said they will host an open house in the fall to update community members.

As of now, Evergy will have surveyors in the area studying the Redbud trail, and the terrain, and gathering information crucial for engineers to design the line.