APCO reports about 60 miles of middle‑mile fiber built in county; permitting and pole work slow finish

An APCO representative told the board that the utility has completed roughly 60 miles of the middle‑mile fiber network in the county and estimates about 65 miles remain to be built. "We've got about 60 miles complete. We're still have about 65, approximately 65 miles to complete in the county, as far as our fiber design," the APCO representative said.

The update emphasized that pole replacement and permitting remain the primary bottlenecks. The APCO representative said the utility has identified hundreds of poles for replacement and has replaced a portion already: "total poles that had been replaced in the county. We're at a count of 239 poles," the representative said, adding the count may rise as crews find additional poles in the field. At the meeting one board member referenced a related figure of 243.

Why it matters: the middle‑mile route will carry traffic to local point‑of‑presence shelters and enable last‑mile providers to serve homes and businesses. APCO said delays in pole work and permitting push back later steps in the project, because the contractor River Street must submit splicing design packages to APCO engineering before splicing, testing and final activation.

APCO described a recent permitting stoppage tied to traffic‑control requirements on a worksite. "We did have a job that was shut down, as part of the permit. Had to do with certification of, intermediate flagger in the area. We have worked through that, and that will we will not have any more stoppages as far as the appropriate personnel on‑site," the APCO representative said, noting that some permits required a flagger on site rather than merely within 60 minutes of the worksite.

The representative said most VDOT permits for the work have been issued and that APCO and VDOT have increased coordination: "I think we've made great headway in working with VDOT and understanding exactly what they're after." He also flagged a remaining permitting challenge with the Blue Ridge Parkway and said APCO staff are coordinating with a transmission permitting team to try to resolve it.

APCO said construction of point‑of‑presence shelters for the VA‑3 project — covering Patrick, Henry and Franklin counties — is underway. The representative gave a projected county build completion year of 2026 but cautioned that River Street still must complete splicing work and that testing and tune‑ups will follow. "So there is several months behind of schedule that we'll need before everything is before the entire county gets set up and ready to go on that," he said.

Board members pressed APCO for additional resources and faster progress. "We owe it to our county to get that as quick as we can," one board member said. Officials also raised weather concerns and the risk that crews will be diverted by storm response: "We're in hurricane season now, then winter storm season's right behind it," another board member said.

APCO said it will request additional field resources for the VA‑3 project and that some make‑ready work in other localities is freeing up crews.

Next steps noted at the meeting: River Street must finish and submit splicing design packages, APCO engineering must issue splicing drawings, crews must complete remaining pole replacements and make‑ready work, and River Street must perform splicing, testing and tune‑ups before final activation.