CINCINNATI – The most visible phase of Downtown’s fiber optic cable project is wrapping up in the next two weeks with crews slated to finish digging trench and installing several miles of underground conduit.

The last part of the excavation will take place on a short stretch of Walnut Street between Central Parkway and Court Street adjacent to the Kroger store construction site.

Meanwhile, crews last month began installing the actual cable and are about to start repaving streets where trenching was needed. Crews patched those areas, mostly on Broadway, Central Avenue, Central Parkway, Vine Street and Sixth Street, after trenching as a temporary measure to reopen affected lanes.

The City will provide an update once the paving schedule is finalized.

The $8.97 million fiber project will modernize Downtown’s traffic signal system and is part of the City’s Smart Cincy initiative.

Work began in January 2018. Once complete in summer 2019, the network will extend from The Banks through the Central Business District. It will connect to the City’s existing municipal fiber grid, which facilitates communications for all City departments, including emergency services.

Please see the attached map, which shows the location of the network’s newly installed conduit. Fiber will run west via Reading Road to Central Parkway, south on Central Avenue, east on Mehring Way to East Pete Rose Way, north on Eggleston Avenue to Reedy, Gilbert Avenue and back to Reading Road. The network includes east-west connections between Broadway and Central Avenue via Second and Sixth streets, and north-south connections on Vine from Central Parkway to Second Street, as well as short stubs on Plum, Elm, Vine, Walnut and Main streets between Central Parkway and Ninth or Court streets. As part of the network, fiber also will be run through existing conduit under most other streets in the Central Business District.

Since January, crews have dug continuous trench totaling more than 20,000 feet in length and approximately 30 inches deep on Broadway, Central Parkway, Central Avenue, Second Street, Vine Street and Sixth Street for conduit to house and protect the fiber optic cable.

The mostly underground network includes an overhead portion strung on utility poles on the eastern edge along Eggleston Avenue, Reedy, Gilbert Avenue and Reading Road.

In total, more than 30,000 feet of cable will be installed above and below ground.

This new infrastructure is being paid for primarily with state and federal grants. It 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.

Crews started installing cable in mid-September and will continue until finished late next month. The last major phase of the project includes the installation of about 50 overhead video cameras at key intersections to be used for traffic monitoring and counting purposes. Crews will install cameras this winter.

The City will continue to post updates on Twitter via @RoadmapCincy as work progresses.

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

In addition to the fiber projects, read about Cincinnati’s other Smart Cincy initiatives at https://cincinnati-oh.gov/cityofcincinnati/display-objects/alert-bar/news/city-making-strides-in-smart-city-initiatives/.