Atlantic Broadband is conducting field walkouts in Mathews and Middlesex counties in advance of a $7.2 million broadband development project covering four localities on the Middle Peninsula.

The project is being partially funded by a $4.2 million Virginia Telecommunications Initiative grant that was awarded last month to Atlantic Broadband and Mathews County.

A press release stated that Atlantic Broadband is in the process of formalizing the contract with the commonwealth, and the field walkouts will enable the company to complete the final design for the project in each of the four counties involved: Mathews, Middlesex, Lancaster and Caroline.

The project will be paid for with the VATI grant plus matching funding of $1.5 million from Atlantic Broadband and $1.5 million from the four counties combined. It is a 130-mile project that will reach more than 1,200 homes and businesses in the four counties and will take 18 months to complete, said the release.

In Mathews, accordi...