Fiber optic installations become painful for Cary homeowners

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Residents of a Cary neighborhood are finding out the price of progress is painful.

It's a lesson being learned all across the Triangle as contractors are installing gigabit fiber optic lines in the Woods of Kildare.

Google Fiber is responsible for the fiber installation.

And they say the problems those contractors are causing are growing every day.

"They cut our fiber line from AT&T. They had to come out and repair that. We were without internet and home phone and cable because we use AT&T UVerse which is a great system but when you cut the one line it shuts everything down. So we were without that for 48 hours a couple days ago," homeowner Clay Cardisa told ABC 11.

But that wasn't the end of it.

"And then yesterday we were without power for at least 18 hours," he said.

Others neighbors say water lines have also been damaged.

And then, of course, there is the issue with replacing grass and other plantings.

The Town of Cary is well aware of the complaints because they are coming from many other neighborhoods as well.

The town has even dedicated a page on its website to the issue of gigabit fiber installation.

What's frustrating for residents is that the utilities being severed are usually well marked.

"They don't pay attention to them. We had utility markings all through our yard. And they don't pay attention to them you know for whatever reason. I don't know if they don't know how to read them or the different companies. Because the companies that come out are subcontracted," Cardisa said.

Google Fiber responded to a request for comment from ABC11 with this statement:

"Building a brand new fiber network is a big and complex project, and we're sensitive to the impact construction has on a community. We want to be good neighbors, and do everything we can to minimize disruption, respond to residents, and resolve issues quickly. When construction incidents occur, we're available 24/7 via our hotline, and ready to help as quickly as we can."

The company even has a Google Fiber Construction Hotline: 1-877-454-6959