Design Canyon fiber backbone presented to Orderville; contractors to be hired, project must meet federal environmental clearances
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Summary
Project presenters from the fiber engagement team told the council they are entering the construction phase for a backbone fiber project along SR‑9 and the Zion Mount Carmel Highway, coordinating with Zion National Park and UDOT, and plan to hire a contractor before firming a construction start date; environmental clearance has been completed.
Representatives of the Design Canyon fiber project told the Orderville Town Council that the project will install a backbone fiber route along State Route 9 and the Zion Mount Carmel Highway to fill gaps in regional broadband and support last‑mile providers.
"My name is Nancy. I'm part of the engagement team for this project," said Nancy (speaker 6), who introduced the project team and said the project is entering the construction procurement phase. Nancy told the council the team has completed a full environmental clearance that followed federal guidelines and is now in the process of hiring a contractor; once the contractor is secured the project team will return with a construction schedule and details about specific work areas.
Ava Pecora (speaker 8), who described the construction approach, said crews will install new fiber along SR‑9, connect into existing fiber past SR‑7 and work through areas east of the park into Rockville and Springdale. "We'll be maintaining one‑way, two‑way traffic through our work zones and also limiting our work zones within the park to about 1,500 feet," Ava said. She added the project will likely use moving work zones and several nighttime closures near the Mount Carmel Tunnel to accelerate progress while coordinating with park traffic management.
The project team said the backbone build is intended to enable "last‑mile" providers and local communications options rather than replace them; they offered a dedicated hotline, email updates and a website/QR code for ongoing construction notices and invited the council to nominate a local staff member as a point of contact for direct community alerts.
Project timeline and impacts remain contingent on contractor selection; presenters said they are aiming to complete contractor selection in the coming weeks and that work must be completed by the December deadline noted by the team. The presenters committed to return with firm schedules and outreach plans once a contractor is under contract.