Glendale sees surge in fiber work; city weighs standards, microtrenching and staffing for incoming projects
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Engineering staff told council that fiber buildout has accelerated: 11 new providers in 18 months, large jumps in linear feet of trenching, and roughly 1,200 permits a year. Staff described public‑utility‑easement issues, construction fatigue, pavement preservation and a regional push to set microtrenching standards.
City engineering staff on April 8 told the Glendale City Council that the city is experiencing a rapid increase in telecom construction, driven by fiber deployments and competition among providers.
"We're very busy," Don Bessler of the engineering department said, noting the city averages about 1,200 annual permits and that staff handled approximately 700,000 linear feet of trenching and boring in 2024 and expect roughly 900,000 linear feet in 2025. John Flatt, civil engineering administrator, told council 11 new entities have applied to work in the city’s rights‑of‑way in the past 18 months, with most current activity centered on fiber.
Why it matters: staff said fiber provides substantially higher download and upload speeds than older coaxial systems and attracts both residential and business customers; it also requires frequent and distributed construction because fiber must be brought to each home or business. The engineering presentation flagged four practical consequences: greater demand on inspection and traffic‑control resources, increased risk of construction impacts to buried utilities, “construction fatigue” where neighborhoods are excavated repeatedly, and a need to protect recent pavement investments.
Public utility easements (PUEs) and front‑yard impacts were central to the discussion. Staff explained that many residential PUEs extend into front yards; residents often do not recognize they or their property deeds allow utility work in that easement, and crews are required to restore disturbed property to "as good or better" condition. Staff noted frequent resident complaints that they did not receive or did not read required mailers or door hangers announcing work.
Council asked about microtrenching — a narrow trenching method that can speed construction — and staff said the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) is studying regional microtrenching standards and the city is participating. Staff cautioned that some trenching techniques have uncertain long‑term effects on pavement life in Arizona’s heat and urged a regional standard before broad local adoption.
Staff also described operational steps to reduce conflicts among providers and with the city’s pavement program: using permitting databases, reviewing CIP schedules and pavement management plans before issuing permits, placing conditions on permits to avoid recently preserved streets, and restricting overlapping traffic‑control plans. The city is migrating permitting data to a new Build Glendale system to better coordinate work, staff said.
Ending: staff did not seek action at the workshop; instead they asked council to note the trends and approved supplemental budget requests for temporary inspection capacity in the upcoming budget cycle. Staff said they expect the construction “bubble” to moderate within 36 months and will return if long‑term staffing needs change.