Downtown Fiber Optic Installation to Begin on E. Pete Rose Way

Jan 12, 2018

CINCINNATI – Crews next week will begin installing underground conduit for a fiber optic network to serve the Central Business District and The Banks. The $8.3 million project will modernize Downtown’s traffic signal system and is part of the City’s Smart Cincy initiative.

This new infrastructure, which is being paid for primarily with state and federal grants, will replace Downtown’s current analog traffic-control communications systems, allowing the Department of Transportation & Engineering greater flexibility to manage traffic signals, improve reliability and reduce service times for changes and adjustments.

It will take approximately 15 months to complete.

Installation begins on East Pete Rose Way between Second Street and Broadway at The Banks. Crews will dig a 400-foot trench about 30 inches deep, install conduit and cable, and patch the site before moving to the next segment.

Crews will repeat this process for each segment on streets around the perimeter of Downtown as well as east-west along Sixth Street and north-south on Vine Street. The length of each segment and time to complete it will vary, depending on field conditions above and below the site.

The work will require lane restrictions for motorists but the overall impact on traffic during construction will be minimal.

Please see the map below, which shows the planned location of the network. The City will post updates on Twitter via @RoadmapCincy as work progresses.

On East Pete Rose Way, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction at the site to accommodate crews and equipment while work is underway. Through access will be allowed for motorists and pedestrians at all times. Flaggers will be on site to help direct motorists and pedestrians around the site.

Crews generally will work 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., installing a total of 20,000 feet of underground conduit and fiber optic cable.

The network will extend from The Banks through Downtown via Broadway, north along Central Parkway, west to Elm and Court streets, south along Central Avenue, east via Mehring Way, and back to Pete Rose Way. Remaining connections to Downtown intersections will be made by routing fiber through existing duct banks and utility tunnels as well as overhead to existing utility poles on the east side along Eggleston to Reedy, Gilbert Avenue and Reading Road.

It will connect to the City’s existing municipal fiber grid, which facilitates communications for all City departments, including emergency services.

The upgrade to fiber also updates the connection to traffic signal controllers and will accommodate video cameras for traffic monitoring and counting purposes at key locations throughout Downtown. See video camera shown in the upper left photo.

This is the City’s third area to be upgraded to fiber. Crews this year are installing fiber in the Carthage and Bond Hill neighborhoods. The first area to get fiber was in Madisonville, Hyde Park and Oakely.

In addition to modernizing the City’s traffic signal system, the project may include additional conduits to be used for Cincinnati’s Smart Cincy initiatives, or leased to other utilities and businesses.

The additional capacity will also facilitate the ability to respond to future innovations when available, such as connected and/or autonomous vehicles.

Other Smart Cincy initiatives include the Smart Cincy RFP and the development of a comprehensive mobility app, both of which are under way. Read about it and other Smart Cincy initiatives at https://cincinnati-oh.gov/cityofcincinnati/display-objects/alert-bar/news/city-making-strides-in-smart-city-initiatives/.

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