Buildout delayed for sections of Grant PUD fiber optic network
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | December 16, 2020 1:00 AM
EPHRATA — Delays in material delivery and obtaining permits mean some customers will wait longer than anticipated to hook up to the Grant County PUD fiber optic network.
Russ Brethower, senior manager of wholesale fiber for the PUD, said Dec. 8 some sections that were supposed to be finished by the end of 2020 will be delayed into 2021.
The plan was to have from Cave B to Beverly Burke Road, in the Quincy area, completed by the end of the year, but it will only be partially completed, Brethower said. Currently, fiber optic is available along part of Silica and Baseline roads, as well as a section along Road 1 NW, but the rest of that line has to cross Interstate 90. The PUD has applied for the necessary permits from the Washington Department of Transportation, Brethower said, but they haven’t arrived yet.
Crossing the freeway will require some underground drilling, he said, while other lines will have to be strung above the road. Once the freeway’s been crossed the rest of the work shouldn’t take long, he said.
Some of the area around the South Ephrata substation was completed by Dec. 8 and the rest should be done by Dec. 31, Brethower said.
The section around Road 9 NW and Highway 283, near Quincy, was scheduled for completion by Dec. 22. That piece has been delayed to about Feb. 15, he said.
The PUD received a $810,000 grant to help pay for a section on Gloyd Road, north of Moses Lake. The section had been scheduled for completion by the end of the year, but it’s been delayed to mid-April 2021, Brethower said.
The COVID-19 outbreak had an affect on the schedule, Brethower said, especially in November. The bigger problem was shortages in equipment, but he didn’t specify further.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
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