Rediscovering anew that he was an engineer by trade, May used the excuse of a European jaunty with Dominion Power to observe new 'facts on the ground' that, oh, gosh, under-grounding power lines might be cost-effective after all. The lobbyists that he traveled with, dedicated to the short-term marginally less costly over-grounding of power lines along the W/O&D trail, weren't so convinced. But that's O.K., because May wouldn't dream of doing anything without their exclusive say, or giving anything other than exclusive use to Dominion for taxpayer funded under-grounding.
May's opponent for the thirty third, Fernando "Marty" Martinez, has made the W/O&D trail and its preservation one of his signature issues, helping save it when Dominion tried to push through the giant towers alongside suburban houses for convenience of servicing. Where we can underground in Virginia, we should, be it Metro or power lines. The growth and development curve in this area is high, and if we don't start making plans for the influx of people and houses now, the worse north Virginia will look and function in decades down the line.