Aurora Restores City Services by 7 a.m. Saturday After I-88 Fiber Cut Disabled 2 Providers
Updated
Updated · Chicago Tribune · Jul 13
Aurora Restores City Services by 7 a.m. Saturday After I-88 Fiber Cut Disabled 2 Providers
1 articles · Updated · Chicago Tribune · Jul 13
Summary
By 7 a.m. Saturday, Aurora had fully restored its phone system, website and internet after a fiber-optic cut knocked city services offline.
A third-party crew accidentally cut cables near Interstate 88 on Thursday during tollway repair work, hitting both of Aurora’s internet providers and causing a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. outage in city buildings.
A temporary wireless fix installed Thursday kept some operations running, but speeds lagged while the Illinois Tollway’s fiber maintenance provider worked overnight and through Friday on a permanent repair.
The disruption also knocked out OnLight Aurora service for customers, blocked calls to the city’s non-emergency myAurora 311 line, and delayed staff emails, though emergency communications were not affected.
The outage underscored how municipalities and businesses depend on the Illinois Tollway’s 48,000-mile fiber network along its 294-mile right-of-way for high-speed connectivity.