Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Thursday, April 24, 2014
(BEDFORD) - Verizon will be building a new 165-foot cell tower in the 1800 block of Stevens Avenue. The tower will be located south of Lowe’s Home Improvement, just west of The Palms real estate building and just east of State Road 37.
The tower should be erected in 2015.
The Times Mail reports that the Bedford Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance Tuesday so the tower can be built.
Some board members had concerns that the tower, which is near IU Health Hospital, would interfere with the flight path of medical helicopters going to and from the hospital.
Plan Director Dan Kirk told the board he didn't believe that would be a problem, but did say the Federal Aviation Administration would have to sign off on the tower plans before it could be constructed.
The new tower is needed because Dan Coots, an attorney representing Verizon, says all the current towers are maxed to their capacity, not only with cell phones but with wireless data transmissions.
The new tower would take some 4G traffic off an existing tower on John Williams Boulevard. It also would improve 4G service for heavy data users and improve the reliability of the network.
Verizon will install three other antennae ports on the tower, meaning other cellular companies also could use it, a common practice in the industry.
The monopole tower would include a five-foot lightning rod and the company would build a 22.5-by-11.5-foot equipment shelter. The property will be enclosed by a six-foot-tall chainlink fence.
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