Underwater construction of a high-speed internet connection from Chicago to Benton Harbor by way of Lake Michigan could begin in the summer of 2027 as Peninsula Fiber Network continues making preparations for the project.
Speaking to colleagues Thursday, Berrien County Commissioner Teri Freehling said the county’s broadband committee, BC Bit, was recently given an update on that fiber optic broadband route the company is planning. She said some locals have noticed the prep work.
“You may have seen some postings on social media about rigs that were close to the shoreline that were pulling soil samples,” Freehling said. “This is all the environmental work that goes in the front end of this, and that’s what they’ve been doing.”
Peninsula is working on three major middle mile broadband routes through Michigan. The plan for the Benton Harbor line is to come ashore at Jean Klock Park and continue to points beyond.
Freehling said it’s a real opportunity to have this state of the art infrastructure coming to Berrien County.
“It’s exciting because it’s actually going to be connecting to the fastest data center in the world, I believe, at least in the United States and the Americas here for the Chicagoland area.”
This project has been in the works for about three years.
Freehling said the connection will mean all kinds of possibilities for Berrien County, from creating redundancy to offering better services for community anchor institutions to improving 911 capabilities.
