In Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, even the painted lines on the street are becoming a tool for better municipal planning. On the borough’s GIS team, Justin Evans and Helen Dostie, have mapped pavement markings ranging from crosswalks to stop bars, turning rough estimates into a detailed inventory. Staff can now select roads and export quantities for bid documents, giving both the borough and contractors a clearer understanding of the work ahead.
The project is one example of how Chambersburg is using GIS to make everyday operations more informed and coordinated. Across electric, gas, water, sanitary sewer, and stormwater systems, the technology has become an essential resource. According to Evans, an internal survey found that nearly all responding departments considered GIS critical to their daily work.
A Shared View of Infrastructure
For Chambersburg’s departments, GIS provides more than a map. It connects infrastructure locations with information employees need to plan projects, respond to problems, and prepare reports.
Evans described a recent planning meeting in which staff pulled up GIS maps to review utilities and discuss where a water main could connect. Seeing the systems together helped participants evaluate options using a shared reference.
The GIS team also organizes and exports data for departmental needs, including information that can support grant applications. Rather than treating mapping as a separate technical function, the borough has integrated it into how work gets done.
Better Information in the Field
That access extends beyond the office. Crews use ArcGIS Field Maps to reference underground infrastructure and understand what they may encounter before digging. During a recent water main break, GIS helped workers identify the pipe’s age, material, diameter, and what it supplied. Those details gave crews valuable context for the repair.
Dostie is also mapping breaks and repair locations to help staff recognize recurring problems. A history of repairs in one area can inform decisions about where to investigate weaknesses or consider future replacement.
The borough plans to build on this foundation with connected utility networks. For water, the team described a future capability to trace which valves would need to be operated to isolate a break. Similar gas-network work could help staff understand which services would be affected by a valve closure. At the time of the interview, these capabilities were still being developed.
Taking the Guesswork Out of Maintenance
The pavement-marking inventory shows how better data can improve even familiar maintenance tasks. Previously, the borough lacked a comprehensive mapped record of its road paint. Dostie helped manually digitize the markings, identifying different types and allowing staff to calculate quantities for selected project areas.That information supports more precise bid documents and helps contractors estimate the materials and work required.
“Starting with GIS, it’s helping not only us, but it’s also helping the contractors get a better idea of what type of work needs done,” Evans said.
The team is bringing a similar approach to utility patches, the sections of asphalt repaired after underground work. A workflow in testing would use ArcGIS QuickCapture to let workers submit a patch location, photograph, dimensions, and other details from a phone. Staff could then review and approve the work through a dashboard, while departments could export records for reporting.
Another dashboard being tested would help the electric department organize crew assignments, display tasks on a map, and track completed work.
Making Technology Work for People
For Evans and Dostie, successful adoption starts with making tools useful and approachable. Not every employee is equally comfortable with new technology, so the team continues to provide paper maps and PDF-based options while demonstrating digital alternatives and offering training.
QuickCapture reflects that emphasis on simplicity, that employees can open the app and press a button to begin recording information, rather than navigate a complicated process.
“That’s our objective,” Justin explained, “just trying to get people to use GIS to how they’re comfortable with.”
That practical mindset connects the borough’s projects. Whether mapping crosswalks, documenting repairs, or testing a new dashboard, the team starts with a specific need and looks for a manageable way to address it. The result is a growing collection of tools that helps Chambersburg’s departments plan with greater clarity and keep essential work moving.
