The Carman area is getting a $5 million upgrade to its hydro infrastructure.

Manitoba Hydro Public Affairs Manager Scott Powell says a new distribution supply centre is going up south of town at the intersection of PTH 3 and Road 33 North.

"(It's) part of our plan to re-power our province and begin replacing and upgrading our aging infrastructure."

Powell describes a distribution supply centre as a sort of underground substation, however is far less intrusive and more reliable. He adds Manitoba Hydro is using these DSCs in many different areas of the province to accommodate load growth.

"Basically it looks like a bunch of green transformer boxes and switches on a gravel pad on a roadside with some transmission, or smaller distribution lines and sub-transmission lines, coming out of the site."

Also as part of this project, Powell says crews will be taking about 6.5 kilometres of existing distribution lines and rebuild them as a 66,000 volt supply line to feed this new DSC. Some additional lines will also be upgraded to accommodate the new station.

Powell adds this new DSC will help meet the growing demand for electricity and improve the reliability of service in the area, eliminating some of the overload happening at the existing station north of town.

"The load is increasing and the reasons for that are varied."

While no major traffic disruptions are anticipated, Powell does encourage motorists travelling in the area to drive carefully and be cognizant of crews working on the project.

Work on the Carman South Distribution Supply Centre is expected to start in the next two or three weeks and be complete by spring 2017.