Kentucky Lawmakers Approve Broadband Project

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky lawmakers have grudgingly agreed to fund a high-speed internet project that has been plagued by delays and cost overruns.
The project, dubbed Kentucky Wired, is supposed to build a network of more than 3,000 miles of fiber optic cables to bring broadband capability to all of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
It was supposed to be finished by now, but state officials think they won’t be able to turn the network on until at least 2020.
The delays have cost the state $88 million in unexpected expenses, money the state does not have to spend. Lawmakers agreed Saturday to let the state borrow up to $110 million to pay that debt. And they agreed to continue to fund the project at about $60 million over the next two years.
Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration had warned not funding the project would kill it and cost taxpayers up to half a billion dollars.
Related News
From Archive

- Intrepid Fiber breaks ground on fiber optic network in Superior, Colo.
- Excavator collides with I-95 overpass in Henrico, Va., causing multi-vehicle crash
- Shrewsbury, Mass., expands sewer inspections and cleaning efforts
- Construction worker killed in trench collapse near Prosperity, S.C.
- Two workers rescued after hours trapped in Mich. trench collapse
- Texas contractor penalized by OSHA for repeated trench safety violations
- Final construction phase kicks off for Indianapolis deep rock tunnel
- WES tunnel boring machine retrieved from Oregon river after seven-month project
- Illinois overhauls Peoples Gas pipeline program, mandates focus on high-risk pipes
- Ameren Illinois to invest $140 million in natural gas pipeline replacement program
Comments