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Ruling the Open Road

Cities are trying to gain some control over the fiber-optic cable- laying frenzy.

If you listen closely to what's going on in Washington, D.C., these days, you won't just hear talk of politics. You also will hear the squeaking of shocks and the rumble of tires on cut-up streets.

All over the city, trenches have been dug in the pavement so telecommunications companies can lay fiber-optic cable to accommodate the overwhelming demand for electronic services. They leave behind swaths of temporarily patched roadways. Vehicles must dodge raised manhole covers or rattle over metal plates until a permanent repair is made. And this may happen two or three times on the same street.

The District of Columbia isn't the only place where the concept of the "open road" has taken on a whole new meaning. Passage of a federal telecommunications law in 1996 opened the field to competition, spawning a road-ripping, cable-laying frenzy by telephone, cable TV and Internet industry companies. "Since then, we have literally been invaded by the telecommunications industry," says Leonard Krumm, director of field services for the public works department in Minneapolis and chairman of the Utility and Public Right-of-Way Committee of the American Public Works Association.

This is not entirely a bad thing. As communities get wired and competition heats up, better prices and services typically follow. Nevertheless, residents from Durham, North Carolina, to Seattle, Washington, are faced with driving through an obstacle course.

Public works departments were slow to recognize the coming onslaught. "We had no idea what was going to happen," Krumm says. While departments were patching local roads, they weren't paying much attention to congressional action on telecommunications law. As a result, many cities now are scrambling to get control.

When Phoenix knows that two different companies want to cut up the same street, it will force them to use the same trench and do the work simultaneously. "If they come in at the same time and we have time to catch it and they're going the same route, we force them to work together," says Les Thomas, director of engineering and architectural services. Officials also are making sure that the companies work at night and stay off major arteries during rush hours. In addition, there is a 12-month moratorium on cutting up newly built or resurfaced roads unless there is an emergency, such as a gas leak or water main break.

Just a few years ago, Phoenix was home to only a handful of companies that needed underground access. Now, there are 52 such businesses and 120 miles' worth of fiber-optic cable in the downtown area. "They're laying fiber like it's going out of style," says Thomas.

Washington, D.C., has decided to get tough in order to address a rapidly deteriorating situation. For starters, the city's going to limit the size of the cuts. One trench on Massachusetts Avenue, a major artery in the District, ran for 15 blocks. Under proposed rules that were open for comment until mid-January, companies would have to limit cuts to two-block increments. They also would have a maximum of 120 days between the first cut and permanent repair of the street. In the past, it wasn't uncommon for "temporary" fixes to be around for six months.

The city also will require telecommunications companies to submit an overall capital plan and then review who wants to dig trenches on what streets. Cuts will be coordinated, "so we wouldn't have people cutting into the street two or three times," says Vanessa Dale Burns, the public works director.

Finally, if the District reconstructs a street, there will be a five- year moratorium on slicing it up, barring an emergency. The city also will alert companies to what streets it plans to reconstruct during the next two years so they have a chance to get their work done first. The district has $200 million in federal funds it plans to spend in the next two years on road work. Says Burns, "To have these people come and tear it up is ridiculous."

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