The Crawford County Planning Commission's Planning Initiatives Committee has identified planning for the expansion of rural broadband internet service as a top priority for the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021. As part of this planning effort, the Planning Initiatives Committee has worked with the Crawford County Planning Office to create, through the application of spatial analysis techniques, an ideal concept for high-speed internet coverage areas. This ideal concept for high-speed internet coverage aims to serve as a guide for appropriating the expansion of rural broadband into areas and communities that are currently either underserved or completely without service. These concept coverage areas were developed through the following methodology:

The HRG Consultants Map produced for the Northwest Commission was applied within the context of the three rural broadband planning areas outlined by the Crawford County Planning Commission’s Planning Initiatives Committee to identify large expanses of areas that were considered to be unserved by high-speed internet access.

Primary transmission towers (red dots) were plotted out in a manner that forms perimeter circles generally encompassing areas presumed to currently lack access to high-speed internet service. These circles are to be comprised of “primary” high-speed internet transmission towers connected with fiber optic cables (thick, light red lines). Several GIS datasets were used to site primary transmission towers in a conceptually ideal manner. Primary transmission towers were preferably placed adjacent to roadways owned by PennDOT and within immediate proximity to areas with a relatively high concentration of address points recorded in Crawford County’s Public Safety database. Heavy consideration was also given to topographic lines so that primary transmission towers were also sited at higher elevations relative to their immediate surroundings. Finally, both the presence of public schools (and non-Amish private schools) and the perceived likelihood that a given area may be conducive for accommodating more development were also favored in the siting of primary transmission towers. The overall function of the perimeter circles is to provide relatively stable trunk system for rural broadband expansion. In all cases primary transmission towers were each assigned a coverage (transmission) radius of 1.5 miles to approximate an overall ideal concept for high-speed internet access.

Perimeter circles can be best observed within the Shenango and Conneaut Valley rural broadband planning areas rather than in the Guys Mills rural broadband planning area where topographical conditions and assumptions of existing service coverage altered their application. Instead, primary transmission towers plotted in the Guys Mills rural broadband planning area follow the trajectory of a large arc formation that creates a trunk for high-speed internet expansion.

After concept perimeter circles were established, infill rings and location sites were plotted. These infill transmission sites are to be comprised of “secondary” high-speed internet transmission units (orange dots) affixed to grain silos, building rooftops, hilltop barns, and other features or structures that are high enough to provide uninterrupted high-speed internet transmission to localized areas. Infill rings and location sites are proposed with respect to areas that have a higher concentration of address points documented in Crawford County’s emergency response addressing system as well as the presence of critical facilities and perceived topographical barriers. In all cases secondary transmission units were each assigned a coverage (transmission) radius of .5 miles to approximate an overall ideal concept for high-speed internet access.

Fiber optic cables were plotted (1) to minimize the amount of cable mileage, (2) to favor the adjacency to PennDOT roads and local roads traversing a significant distance relative to other roads (route options), and (3) to match routes proposed by the Northwest Pennsylvania Rural Electric Co-Operative for the siting of fiber optic cables to a practical extent.

Alterations: The assumptions presented within the four methodology steps outlined above can and should be altered as the implications presented by more detailed information become available.

Concept coverage areas fall into the three distinct areas identified within Crawford County to be the primary focus of planning efforts to expand internet service to residents in rural communities. These areas were identified in large part because of the limited or non-existent access to internet for household consumers. This feature class contains the following fields:

Coverage_Area (Coverage Area Name) - a text field used to provide a name to identify the concept coverage area.

Est_Population (Estimated Population) - a numeric field use to document the estimated population located within the concept coverage area.

Number_SD (Number of School Districts) - a numeric field use to document the number of school districts with a portion of their jurisdiction located within the concept coverage area.

Approx_MI (Approximate Median Income) - a numeric field use to document the approximate median income of households located within the concept coverage area.

Est_Households (Estimated Households) - a numeric field use to document the estimated number of households located within the concept coverage area.

Est_Families (Estimated Families) - a numeric field use to document the estimated number of families located within the concept coverage area.

The Crawford County Planning Commission's Planning Initiatives Committee has identified planning for the expansion of rural broadband internet service as a top priority for the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021. As part of this planning effort, the Planning Initiatives Committee has worked with the Crawford County Planning Office to create, through the application of spatial analysis techniques, an ideal concept for high-speed internet coverage areas. This ideal concept for high-speed internet coverage aims to serve as a guide for appropriating the expansion of rural broadband into areas and communities that are currently either underserved or completely without service. These concept coverage areas were developed through the following methodology:

The HRG Consultants Map produced for the Northwest Commission was applied within the context of the three rural broadband planning areas outlined by the Crawford County Planning Commission’s Planning Initiatives Committee to identify large expanses of areas that were considered to be unserved by high-speed internet access.

Primary transmission towers (red dots) were plotted out in a manner that forms perimeter circles generally encompassing areas presumed to currently lack access to high-speed internet service. These circles are to be comprised of “primary” high-speed internet transmission towers connected with fiber optic cables (thick, light red lines). Several GIS datasets were used to site primary transmission towers in a conceptually ideal manner. Primary transmission towers were preferably placed adjacent to roadways owned by PennDOT and within immediate proximity to areas with a relatively high concentration of address points recorded in Crawford County’s Public Safety database. Heavy consideration was also given to topographic lines so that primary transmission towers were also sited at higher elevations relative to their immediate surroundings. Finally, both the presence of public schools (and non-Amish private schools) and the perceived likelihood that a given area may be conducive for accommodating more development were also favored in the siting of primary transmission towers. The overall function of the perimeter circles is to provide relatively stable trunk system for rural broadband expansion. In all cases primary transmission towers were each assigned a coverage (transmission) radius of 1.5 miles to approximate an overall ideal concept for high-speed internet access.

Perimeter circles can be best observed within the Shenango and Conneaut Valley rural broadband planning areas rather than in the Guys Mills rural broadband planning area where topographical conditions and assumptions of existing service coverage altered their application. Instead, primary transmission towers plotted in the Guys Mills rural broadband planning area follow the trajectory of a large arc formation that creates a trunk for high-speed internet expansion.

After concept perimeter circles were established, infill rings and location sites were plotted. These infill transmission sites are to be comprised of “secondary” high-speed internet transmission units (orange dots) affixed to grain silos, building rooftops, hilltop barns, and other features or structures that are high enough to provide uninterrupted high-speed internet transmission to localized areas. Infill rings and location sites are proposed with respect to areas that have a higher concentration of address points documented in Crawford County’s emergency response addressing system as well as the presence of critical facilities and perceived topographical barriers. In all cases secondary transmission units were each assigned a coverage (transmission) radius of .5 miles to approximate an overall ideal concept for high-speed internet access.

Fiber optic cables were plotted (1) to minimize the amount of cable mileage, (2) to favor the adjacency to PennDOT roads and local roads traversing a significant distance relative to other roads (route options), and (3) to match routes proposed by the Northwest Pennsylvania Rural Electric Co-Operative for the siting of fiber optic cables to a practical extent.

Alterations: The assumptions presented within the four methodology steps outlined above can and should be altered as the implications presented by more detailed information become available.

Concept coverage areas fall into the three distinct areas identified within Crawford County to be the primary focus of planning efforts to expand internet service to residents in rural communities. These areas were identified in large part because of the limited or non-existent access to internet for household consumers. This feature class contains the following fields:

Coverage_Area (Coverage Area Name) - a text field used to provide a name to identify the concept coverage area.

Est_Population (Estimated Population) - a numeric field use to document the estimated population located within the concept coverage area.

Number_SD (Number of School Districts) - a numeric field use to document the number of school districts with a portion of their jurisdiction located within the concept coverage area.

Approx_MI (Approximate Median Income) - a numeric field use to document the approximate median income of households located within the concept coverage area.

Est_Households (Estimated Households) - a numeric field use to document the estimated number of households located within the concept coverage area.

Est_Families (Estimated Families) - a numeric field use to document the estimated number of families located within the concept coverage area.