FLINT, Mich. — A major step toward bridging Michigan’s digital divide took place this week as Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist joined local officials and community leaders in Davison for the groundbreaking of an ambitious new high-speed fiber internet project designed to expand access to thousands of homes and businesses across mid-Michigan.
Valued at $87 million, the third fiber route, known as Route 3, is expected to bring affordable, reliable broadband to more than 95,000 families statewide as part of Michigan’s push to strengthen its broadband infrastructure.
“Being disconnected from the internet means literally being disconnected from opportunity,” Gilchrist said at Monday’s ceremony.
The new route will build out 100 miles of critical middle mile fiber through Flint and the counties of Genesee, Lapeer, Macomb, and St. Clair, creating a vital backbone for local providers to extend service deeper into unserved and underserved communities.
Route 3 will join Michigan’s two other major fiber corridors: Route 1, which links the state to Chicago via underwater fiber, and Route 2, which connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas with a unique stop at Beaver Island. Together, the network aims to strengthen connectivity, redundancy, and competition across the state.
“A more connected Michigan is a more vibrant Michigan, a more prosperous Michigan, and a Michigan with a big enough future to include all of us in it,” Gilchrist added, underscoring the administration’s vision for broadband access as an economic driver.
Local leaders say the project, funded in part by the federal enabling middle mile broadband infrastructure program, will bring wide-ranging benefits to rural communities and small towns that have long struggled with patchy or overpriced service.
“For federal offices, state offices, local communities being here today to talk about this with our business community, this is going to strengthen this region so much through this level of impact and partnership,” said Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley, who joined Gilchrist at the event.
Jennifer Greenburg, vice president of government affairs at Peninsula Fiber Network, the group building the project, said that middle mile investments help make local broadband cheaper and more competitive for everyone.
“By increasing sort of the backbone and increasing that infrastructure, it creates greater access opportunities for homes and businesses and others in those rural unserved,” Greenburg said. “It makes it more affordable for other internet service providers to connect to the middle mile and provide service. So it could result in lower rates for customers and communities. And then there’s more competition within the broadband infrastructure, which helps really all of the players.”
Gilchrist emphasized that stronger internet access impacts nearly every part of daily life — from kids’ homework to telehealth visits to modern farming.
“Farms that are connected to the internet have more yields and are more productive,” he said. “Children who have internet access in their homes are more likely to do their homework and have better education outcomes. Households that have internet have better health outcomes because they can have a better and more intimate relationship with their providers.”
Construction on Route 3 is now underway, with local officials hopeful that the project will not only improve service quality and speed for current residents but also attract new investment and growth for years to come.
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Originally reported by Zain Omair in WNEM.
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