February 2021 Construction Update

February weather is always a surprise. Sometimes its cold and snowy, and sometimes we have a beautiful spring-like day letting us know that warmer weather is near. Despite the snow and rain, we are happy to say we are still on course for 2021 to accomplish our largest single-year undertaking of constructing 500 miles of fiber.

The majority of our activity is taking place within our electric service area where the construction process is already underway. You may see some crews in area clearing right-of-way and working on make ready construction for areas where fiber will be placed later in the year. We want our electric consumers to know that you are and will remain our top priority for broadband service availability.

We recently released construction for the downtown Lexington business district, which is not in our service area. BARC did not divert any resources from our electric service territory construction areas to work on downtown Lexington. In other words, work continues as planned to expand broadband service within our electric service area. The construction taking place in downtown Lexington is a special micro-trenching crew that only works in congested urban areas. This build aligns with our current project path and allows us to expand service to a densely populated area to help with overall project costs.

Below is a chart with our 2021 fiber project areas listed with their construction status. While construction is still going on in your area, be sure to take advantage of our “free service drop” promotion if you live in an eligible area. You can do this online by visiting our website http://shop.barcconnects.net or calling 800-846-2272 and one of our Customer Service team members will be happy to assist you.

We also want to provide you with some information on future construction areas for 2022 and 2023 in the chart below:

You will soon see our project sign displayed in the Town of Goshen for the ARC fiber project and we encourage all residents and businesses to sign up for service now so we can have you in our queue as construction is completed. Additionally, work in Rockbridge County has begun on the Effinger/Glasgow circuit and on the Cornwall East / Irish Creek circuit. Consumers with eligible addresses should have received information on how to sign up for service. You can always check our website to see if your address is eligible for service by selecting “Sign Up Now”.

If you have any questions or concerns about the project, our crews, or anything related to BARC services, please contact us at 800-846-2272 or via email at support@barcconnects.net. You can always stay up to date on our progress by visiting https://www.barcconnects.net/news or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BARCElectricCooperative

Our mission remains to improve the quality of life in our communities.