Why Have The Lights on I-94 From I-75 to Moross/Harper Woods Been Out For So Long?

**313WX** · January-05-13, 01:10 PM

Since we're at it, doesn't the state of Michigan maintain THIS lighting?

If so, what's the excuse behind this?

It's a crosstown/inter-city route. There's absolutely no reason why car headlights should be the only source of lighting along this stretch. It's been pitch black along this stretch for at least several months now.

**Honky Tonk** · January-05-13, 01:21 PM

Why Have The Lights on I-94 From I-75 to Moross/Harper Woods Been Out For So Long?

Because there are no white, middle-class suburbanites coming in to watch sports or eat bad yuppie BBQ.

**Gistok** · January-05-13, 01:50 PM

I've noticed that as well...

The last few weeks I've been down I-94 at night, and they've had lane closures during week nights [[after 10PM) and I've seen search lights along the way [[under bridges, and along the grass embankments).

Is MDOT having a "try switching all the bulbs in a string of Christmas lights to see which one is causing the outage" moment??

Shollin · January-05-13, 11:39 PM

On 696 from Groesbeck to about Van Dyke all the lights are out. In fact, the light poles themselves are missing and have been missing for some time.

**Hamtragedy** · January-06-13, 12:20 PM

Yeah, there was one night in Dec. I was working in the Park by Alter and Mack, and I had to make a service call at Outer Drive and Evergreen. Every single streetlight was out on Chalmers, the Ford, the Jeffries and Evergreen. Grand River had streetlights.

Detroit. The City that's Broken. And busted.

**Gistok** · January-06-13, 12:41 PM

About 1 1/2 years ago MDOT replaced all the double light light poles on I-94 in southern Macomb County in St. Clair Shores and Roseville [[maybe farther north, but haven't checked) with single light poles.

But interestingly enough, the location of these new poles was something like 20ft or more away from the location of the older poles. The single light pole arcs over the median, and appears to do OK [[lighting wise)... perhaps lighting system with low energy lights.

But with the location switch, they had to take out part of the concrete median in order to get the wiring moved as well. Not really sure why they didn't just add the single light poles at the same location of the double light poles.

I wonder if this lighting change is now being implemented on other freeway sites? However, if it is... it's taking forever... the outage along I-94 was originally only from Chene to Van Dyke [[been almost a year now)... now it's continued much farther east, and to other freeways??

**Goose** · January-06-13, 01:18 PM

i have a feeling they are replacing the lights, they appear to be digging trenches along the side and installing conduit, probably replacing all the wiring....

**Gistok** · January-06-13, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by Goose

i have a feeling they are replacing the lights, they appear to be digging trenches along the side and installing conduit, probably replacing all the wiring....

That would make sense... I do remember seeing a backhoe on a flatbed when they had lane closures on I-94 this past Friday night at 11PM.

**fastcarsandfreedom** · January-06-13, 08:09 PM

My understanding from MDOT is that the center median lighting is being removed and all lighting is being moved to the embankments...no idea if it's standard lighting or if they are going to high mast. As an aside--this entire strentch of the Edsel Ford Freeway is due to be completely reconstructed in the coming years - so no idea if this is in anticipation of that or a temporary measure until reconstruction.

Nonetheless, over the months prior to this project, there were intermittent lighting issues along I-94 as far west as I-96 -- there were several incidents over this past summer where the newer high-mast lighting between I-96 and I-75 were out, in addition to I-94 east of I-75 - in the dead of night the stretch through Chene/Mt Elliott/Van Dyke is particularly dark.

**milt721** · January-07-13, 12:40 PM

The MDOT cameras are also out in this stretch...

**MizMotown** · January-07-13, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by milt721

The MDOT cameras are also out in this stretch...

This is where that bad accident was where that guy was killed and the off duty officer injured that was trying to help him. Too dark!

**Detroitnerd** · January-07-13, 01:44 PM

I have noticed the freeway lights out on I-75 between downtown and Hamtramck.

**TKshreve** · January-07-13, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by Shollin

On 696 from Groesbeck to about Van Dyke all the lights are out. In fact, the light poles themselves are missing and have been missing for some time.

I've been commuting this stretch for over a decade now. They were originally working on replacing the light poles two years ago. POSEN, the construction company working on this project has year after year put up the orange barrels where they sit for several months before any action is taken. I know this because I have now hit TWO stray rolling barrels in the fast lane. One of them almost caused a serious accident. The other caused considerable damage to my vehicle.

Those barrels sit out there for months on end without any construction taking place. Not to mention they never finished the job of replacing all the light poles. You can see there are new lights from 94 junction to about Groesbeck I think. Then there's the old rusty poles from there on. BTW - Posen told me in so many conflicting words to GFM when I wrote them a letter regarding the damage and unsafe practices they employ.

Do companies like Posen receive an initial check when they put those barrels out? Regardless of any timeline they have to finish the job?

**rondinjp** · February-15-13, 10:31 AM

Well this explains the problem. But doesn't mention when they will get the lights back on [[which are still out) or how to stop it from occurring again.

"MDOT: Thieves rob Metro freeways of light"
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

**cramerro** · February-15-13, 03:15 PM

I-94 from Conner or Frech area up to Vernier is undergoing replacement of the lighting with a shift to the embankment on the outside edges of the freeway. North of Vernier was switched to center single light a few years ago, and 94 downtown around 75 and 96 just had the center lights installed recently. For whatever reason [[lighting industry and construction industry in bed?) MDOT has decided to try yet another design, this time with the lights on the grassy sides of the freeway, with LED. Some benefits I've read over a few different tidbits in articles were that they are safer to change [[don't have cherry pickers in the fast lane with no center shoulder on I-94 especially) and cheaper/easier to install and repair the wiring [[since it isn't encased in concrete). Seems to me that with a quick survey of tire tracks on the embankment that they're going to replacing these things pretty regularly once they're snapped off by an errant vehicle.

**Gistok** · February-15-13, 03:47 PM

Agreed Cramerro.... people losing control of their vehicles are going to be smashing into those embankment lights and getting killed.

I encountered the horrific sight of a driver burning to death in his vehicle on the embankment of I-94 in SCS 2 years ago [[just as fire and emergency vehicles were pulling up). And all he did was hit a 12 ft. tall tree halfway up the embankment.

Are they planning on putting a safety railing along the roadway side of each light? $$$

As for people getting electrocuted stealing copper wire from live freeway electric boxes... no pity for stupidity here...

**5speedz34** · February-15-13, 09:25 PM

Gistok, I remember when that happened and seeing the charred tree a few days after the fact. I think the driver was at a high rate of speed at the time.

I read last fall that they would replacing the lights along the Ford Fwy on the Eastside to the shoulders, which raised the same concerns already mentioned in this thread:

1) Cars are going to take these out all the time.

2) If they are going to actually widen the freeway in a few years, why the hell would you put these in only to remove them later? IIRC-The freeway widening is only supposed to go from Wyoming to Conner. The moving of the lights to the shoulder may only be happening after Van Dyke or something like that.

I actually took the Jeffries last night from the Ford out to IKEA last night and for a minute I wondered why my headlights were so dim, until I realized that there where literally no lights until after the Grand River elbow where the Jeffries follows Schoolcraft. I even had to put my high beams on at one point. Really says something about the sorry state of our infrastructure in not only Detroit, but Michigan and the rest of the US.