New power lines for an old grid

The power transmission system in America is crumbling but NIMBY will make it hard to fix since we can't build towers and burying high voltage power lines is very expensive. That makes the best choice to find ways to use the ones we have more effectively. This is a problem for the material scientists, since to do this will require the steel the lines are made of to be lighter and more conductive. Thanks to the auto industry I am sure that the steel has gotten lighter in the past few years, but I am not sure much thought has been put into more conductive. This is a problem of alloying, forging and final shape. Since what the wire is made of, how it's made, and woven determines the electrical properties, it should be possible to increase conductivity of the wires significantly while not requiring exotic materials. By adding a fiberglass or carbon fiber core the line could be made lighter and stronger, and thanks to the skin effect nearly the same current capacity. With lighter lines it would allow for more lines to be strung on the same support towers. By changing crystal structure of the steel via what can only be described as vigorous machining, and adding a small percent of a metal like vanadium the steel will be stronger and possibly more conductive. Additionally by weaving cables of different diameter, with different properties it should be possible to greatly increase the strength and conductivity of the cables with minimal increases in material costs.