Letter: Dig once, connect twice on the Central Coast

A Paso Robles resident is calling on state and local leaders to make every construction project count twice — laying fiber-optic conduit whenever crews already have roads and utility corridors torn open.

The letter, titled "Dig once, connect twice on the Central Coast" and published September 5 by the Paso Robles Daily News, was written by Jordan Berry of Paso Robles, who describes himself as an Army Signal leader. It argues that reliable broadband should be treated as core public infrastructure — no less essential than pavement, water lines, or fire protection — and that the Central Coast should stop solving each infrastructure problem with a separate, expensive construction project.

Why 'Dig Once' Matters Here

The concept Berry champions is straightforward: when a road is repaved or a utility trench is opened, workers should also install empty conduit for fiber-optic cable, and ideally the fiber itself. The added cost of conduit during an already-scheduled excavation is a fraction of the cost of digging up the same road again later.

For Paso Robles and surrounding north San Luis Obispo County communities, the stakes are practical. Rural stretches of the 805 region have long struggled with spotty internet service — a problem that became acute during the pandemic-era shift to remote work and school. Beyond consumer internet, Berry notes, fiber along transportation and utility corridors can support traffic monitoring, infrastructure sensors, emergency communications, wildfire detection, and faster recovery after disasters.

That last point resonates on the Central Coast, where wildfire, power shutoffs, and storm damage have repeatedly tested local communications. As Berry writes in his letter, "a damaged line, wildfire, or power outage can isolate residents precisely when first responders and local officials need dependable information."

Drawing on his military experience, Berry writes that he has "seen how quickly operations suffer when communications infrastructure is unreliable or lacks redundancy" — a vulnerability he says civilian communities share.

The State Network Already Underway

Berry's letter points to groundwork already laid in Sacramento. According to the letter, California is building an open-access middle-mile broadband network intended to reach underserved communities, and as of August 2026 the state reported more than 8,200 planned network miles reaching all 58 counties. Middle-mile infrastructure — the backbone connections that carry traffic between local networks and the broader internet — is the kind of asset that "dig once" policies are designed to complement and extend.

The letter also cites a 2025 report, "Broadening Our View on Broadband," by the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure, which argues that fiber's benefits extend well beyond consumer internet access, particularly when installed alongside transportation and utility corridors.

What's missing, in Berry's view, is coordination. He proposes that California adopt stronger "dig once" requirements, create regional coordination teams, and offer incentives for transportation agencies, utilities, broadband providers, and emergency services to share conduit and infrastructure data. He also urges that new projects include spare conduit so future providers can expand service without reopening the same road.

What It Could Mean for Paso Robles Residents

If adopted, such policies would touch everyday life in Paso Robles in several ways. Repaving projects along corridors like Highway 101 or Spring Street could double as opportunities to expand fiber availability in neighborhoods currently underserved. Utility upgrades by electricity and water providers could similarly leave behind empty conduit ready for future providers — potentially increasing competition and lowering prices over time.

The emergency-resilience argument may be the most compelling locally. In recent years, North County residents have experienced wildfire evacuations, public-safety power shutoffs, and storms that severed communication exactly when information was most critical. Redundant, buried fiber routes shared across agencies could give first responders, the city, and the county more reliable channels during those events — and help restore service faster afterward.

Berry's core message is fiscal as much as technological. "The Central Coast does not need separate construction projects for every infrastructure problem," he writes. "It needs coordinated projects that make each public dollar work harder."

What Comes Next

As a letter to the editor, Berry's piece reflects his personal opinion rather than an enacted policy — the Paso Robles Daily News notes that opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the paper or its staff. But "dig once" policies have drawn bipartisan interest in other states and at the federal level, where transportation agencies have experimented with conduit-sharing requirements for years, and California's ongoing middle-mile buildout gives state and local officials a natural window to formalize coordination.

For now, the next steps Berry outlines — stronger state requirements, regional coordination teams, interagency data sharing, and spare conduit in new projects — remain proposals. Residents who agree can weigh in through the same channel Berry used: the Paso Robles Daily News welcomes letters from local residents on relevant local topics, and city and county infrastructure decisions, from paving schedules to franchise agreements with utilities, are typically open to public comment.

For a city that continues to grow — and a region where a single storm or fire can cut off communications — the idea of connecting twice while digging once may prove difficult for local leaders to ignore.

Have an opinion on broadband or local infrastructure? Letters to the editor can be submitted through the [Paso Robles Daily News](https://pasoroblesdailynews.com/letter-dig-once-connect-twice-on-the-central-coast/223413/).