Resident perceptions of a nearby electric transmission line

A large sample of a population living near an electric transmission line was surveyed using psychometrically developed scales. The line, which had recently been rebuilt to carry more power, consisted of three high-voltage circuits carried on tubular steel poles that range from 120 to 160 feet in height. Many nearby residents feel that this line is a negative element in their neighborhood and, more specifically, that it has moderately negative impacts on health and safety, property values and aesthetics. Modelling of these perceived impacts suggests that they are especially salient for those who are older and who have higher-status occupations; the impacts are less salient for those who use the right-of-way for recreational activities. Those residents who had been living in the neighborhood before the transmission line was rebuilt and who had been opposed to the line upgrade at that time have extremely negative views about the completed facility. This subgroup tends to be made up of people with higher-status occupations. A comparison of the line's objective visibility with the degree of visibility perceived by residents revealed that many respondents had perceptions that were at variance with actual visual conditions. This finding was particularly true for those who had been opposed to the line's rebuilding, who significantly overstated the line's visibility. Finally, a post-construction evaluation of the environmental design and landscape measures that had been applied in an effort to reduce the facility's visual impacts (tower type, tower color and right-of-way treatment) suggest that citizens' evaluations of these measures are not always consistent with the assumptions made by the design professionals who recommend them. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited