Gilbert Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Master Plan and Implementation

Challenge: The Town of Gilbert needed to expand its ITS network and implement over 34 miles of backbone fiber along the arterials. The uniqueness of the project is that, upon completion, it will connect all the public works facilities by utilizing this newly built town-owned fiber optic network.

ITS Master Planning

The project team prepared an award-winning Fiber Optic Implementation Plan for the Town of Gilbert which set the framework for installing fiber optic infrastructure and communication needs over the next 20 years and set the stage to develop public-private partnerships. The Fiber Optic Implementation Plan initially set the framework for adding high-speed fiber optic cable to Town arterial corridors primarily for the purposes of connecting all the traffic signals. As the plan progressed, opportunities to connect branch fiber to Town-owned field equipment and facilities owned by other departments, such as water, wastewater, parks, and IT, were also identified.

The results of the report concluded that approximately 50+ miles of arterial roadways will need to be equipped with fiber optic cable and over 130 Town facilities (water, wastewater, storm, fire stations, signals, recreation centers, etc.) can be connected to it, which can potentially eliminate the need of a third-party connection. Through this plan, 31 projects totaling $34 million in construction cost were added to the Town’s CIP. These projects will construct 50 miles of conduit and fiber interconnect to bring more than 130 Town facilities on a Town-owned fiber network. All of the Town’s Departments, including water, wastewater, community centers, pools, etc., will utilize the ITS communications facilities once implemented. The CIP has allocated $4 million in funding annually until 2029 for the design and construction of these projects along arterial roadways through the Town.

Fiber Design

Subsequently, the project team was awarded the design phase of the project in December 2022. They segmented the project into three separate corridor packages to be constructed from 2024 to 2026. The team delivered the design plans, specifications, and estimates for the 2024 and 2025 planned corridors, and are ahead of schedule to deliver the year 2026 corridor design packages.

The design team has been instrumental in developing design standards, ITS specifications, and design templates to streamline project production. Recently, Phase III of the ATMS program was completed, which consisted of three miles of fiber adjacent to irrigation and railroad facilities. In addition to designing the town-owned fiber infrastructure, we are also designing the infrastructure for prospective telecom providers to lease facilities from the Town to expedite the deployment of the high-speed broadband network.

Benefit: The project will provide significant operational cost savings by reducing the cost of leased telecommunication lines for the Town. It will create an opportunity for a public-private partnership between the Town of Gilbert and the third-party telecom service providers. It will help the deployment of broadband networks faster within Gilbert. The more choices of broadband service providers in Gilbert will ultimately reduce the broadband pricing for the residents.