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River Street, Appalachian Power outline progress and delays on Henry County broadband buildout
Summary
River Street Network and Appalachian Power told the Henry County Board of Supervisors that design revisions and financing changes expanded the West project footprint and delayed buildout; River Street said roughly 1,343 household passes in named communities could be completed by Q4 2026, and residents should sign up at riverstreet.net to receive service updates.
River Street Network and Appalachian Power gave the Henry County Board of Supervisors a progress update on the county’s broadband rollout, describing completed middle‑mile construction and remaining work before household service can begin.
"I'm going to give you a brief update of the project," said Zach Church, director of engineering and construction for River Street Network. He said the county portion is about 2,000 locations, and that additional locations and funding complications doubled the project scope and required redesigns. Church said 1,343 household passes in communities including Roswell, Oursburg, Coral Bar and Meadow Ridge are slated to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2026.
The nut of the delay, Church told supervisors, has been financing and coordination with utility partners. "The contracts have been submitted back to the state or federal level…we've not gotten all that worked out just yet," he said. He described handoffs in which Appalachian Power builds aerial backbone lines and River Street performs buried last‑mile work and splicing.
Appalachian Power's representative described completed middle‑mile huts and pending generator commissioning, distribution make‑ready work including pole replacements and a railroad crossing permit, and said four of six county routes have construction finished, totaling about 90 miles of work. He warned that visible fiber on poles does not mean immediate customer service: final splicing, testing and commissioning are required before lines are lit.
Supervisors pressed River Street for customer‑level information. One board member asked how many Henry County addresses currently have service and what the increase since the last report would be; Church offered to provide updated address‑level figures after the meeting. The company asked residents to enter their addresses at riverstreet.net to be placed in the service queue.
The board did not take action but heard repeated assurances that pockets of service will be activated as segments are tested and completed. Staff and the companies urged residents with questions to contact county administration or to use the company signup tool to receive direct notice when their service becomes available.
