Fiber Optic Cables

Eric Rivers September 27, 2015September 14, 2016 0 Comments

The city of Kent is in the works to upgrade the current traffic system along S.R. 43 to an improved fiber optic system. Though the new system has been approved, the city is still waiting on a grant that would drastically change the scope of the project.

City engineer Jim Bowling announced the plan for the fiber optic system on September 2 at the city council meeting. According to his announcement, fiber optic cables would be placed underneath sidewalks, which would have to be replaced along S.R. 43 until it meets with S.R. 261. These cables would improve the speed and accuracy of traffic detection along that strip.

“The benefits are that it’s protected, secure, fast and improves communication between our central control system and the traffic signal,” Jim Bowling said of the new network. “Without that, we wouldn’t be able to adjust the timing and see how the signals operate.”

The city has already received approximately a three million dollar grant for the traffic lights from the Ohio Department of Transportation. The money came through the federal government to the Ohio Department of Transportation then the Ohio Department of Transportation passed it along to the city of Kent.

“Part of it was theirs and part of it is ours because we have to have matching funds in there. About two and a quarter million was state money and about three quarters of a million was ours,” said Kent City Councilman Wayne A. Wilson

Though the city has already approved and achieved sufficient funding to replace traffic lights and install the fiber optic network, on September 2 Bowling proposed to apply for a 500,000 dollar grant from the Association of Mediation and Transport Services (AMATS) to improve the network and widened sidewalks.

“The current project that we have includes removing and replacing the existing sidewalk as is. That, within that location, is substandard,” Bowling said. “It’s narrower than what the recommended guidelines are, and it’s too close to the road compared to the recommended guidelines.”

The AMATS grant would allow Bowling and his team to widen sidewalks and push the project up to the recommended guidelines. Cooperation from local businesses such as Burger King and Mr. Hero is still needed as widening the sidewalks would take away one parking spot from each.

The new fiber optic system, Bowling said, does not yet have a due date and no ground has been broken. However, once it’s installed, it will act like a 24-hour traffic cop, monitoring the number of cars on the road, the number of pedestrians waiting and will adjust traffic signals accordingly.