As Google Inc. starts to roll out its elaborate Fiber project in Kansas City, the area's entrepreneurs are plotting how to capitalize on the one-gigabit communications network in creative ways.

Tim Sylvester, 31 years old, founded Integrated Roadways LLC, which makes a modular pavement system for high-traffic roadways. His plan: to embed sensors in pavement slabs to capture data about potentially hazardous roadway conditions, such as cracks, potholes and traffic jams.

Until...