Where are my street lights?

**sumas** · November-09-14, 05:29 AM

Always bemused at government incompetence! From my house to downtown lights have been out for years. Our personal street had lights. Early spring, lights were fitted out with new bulbs. Thought cool!

July 18th, the new lighting authority removed our light poles. Made a call [[many) and got to the right org. They will be replaced according to new federal standards, I was told in 5 to 8 weeks.

This is now November. No lights. We had them, now gone.

We were asked to send a dish for a surprise party on the next block. Being old farts, the party was to start at 9 PM. Did not plan to attend. Someone was to pick up what we cooked. Nada. Delivered our offering on foot.

I was crying by the time I got home from such a short distance. I could not see and pavement on sidewalks are pure crap.

Someone posted where's my recycle bin, waiting for that too. A close friend and westsider picks up our stuff because they have an established recyle program. How dumb is this shit?

**Gpwrangler** · November-09-14, 07:58 AM

Would porch lights help? I know it costs a little but assuming the neighborhood is at least viable [[sounds like yours is) they help a lot.

Mine are all on dusk to dawn with sensors.

**Dan Wesson** · November-09-14, 08:48 AM

A thousand watt high pressure sodium would do nicely.

**sumas** · November-09-14, 09:35 AM

Thanks for suggestions however my porch light is on every night. Have two free standing street lamps in front and my back yard has four sensor spotlights. Didn't help walking to the next block. I don't rattle easy but no lights are unacceptable. The city should give us a tax credit for lighting our little nook.

**Wheels** · November-09-14, 09:47 AM

I love my neighborhood!

**Gpwrangler** · November-09-14, 10:08 AM

I think I found out where the money is going. They have narrowed E warren to one lane each way, and there is a brand new bicycle lane with "share the road" signs every 200 feet or so from Mack ave towards downtown. Not sure how far it goes but things must be shaping up pretty good if there is money for that. Oh and the streetlights don't work in that neighborhood either.

**Cliffy** · November-09-14, 10:28 AM

Road money has nothing to do with lights on side streets.

**Gpwrangler** · November-09-14, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Cliffy

Road money has nothing to do with lights on side streets.

Waste is waste. Mack is a mess. Finish that first. Been working on it all summer mostly on Sundays.

**Cliffy** · November-09-14, 10:42 AM

Again you don't know anything about job lettings and fiscal year funding. Road funding is very complicated.

**313WX** · November-09-14, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by sumas

Always bemused at government incompetence! From my house to downtown lights have been out for years. Our personal street had lights. Early spring, lights were fitted out with new bulbs. Thought cool!

July 18th, the new lighting authority removed our light poles. Made a call [[many) and got to the right org. They will be replaced according to new federal standards, I was told in 5 to 8 weeks.

This is now November. No lights. We had them, now gone.

We were asked to send a dish for a surprise party on the next block. Being old farts, the party was to start at 9 PM. Did not plan to attend. Someone was to pick up what we cooked. Nada. Delivered our offering on foot.

I was crying by the time I got home from such a short distance. I could not see and pavement on sidewalks are pure crap.

Just continue to send your complaints to the Public Lighting Authority.

http://www.pladetroit.org/contact/

The complaints so far have been the same. The city comes by, takes down the 2 or 3 poles along a block and only puts up one brand new pole in the middle of the block. Immediately under that one mid-block light, it's bright as day. Otherwise, it's extremely dark on the rest of the block.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/26...-bright-enough

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...52708122597994

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ere-and-how-to

http://youtu.be/efysZfW4-Ec

I'm still pissed because they took down our working alley lights in the 48205 pilot area after Duggan said they wouldn't, especially when I go to other parts of the city and they still have their alley lights up. I also don't get why the city is lighting blocks where there are few or no residents just as well or better than the blocks where tons of people still live...

http://youtu.be/CFOygT1YHCo

**313WX** · November-09-14, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by Cliffy

Again you don't know anything about job lettings and fiscal year funding. Road funding is very complicated.

And besides that, the money for the lights in Detroit no longer comes from the city's general fund...

The funding for the lights, under the law passed by the state of Michigan legislature, can only be used for lighting improvements.

**Gpwrangler** · November-09-14, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by Cliffy

Again you don't know anything about job lettings and fiscal year funding. Road funding is very complicated.

You must be right judging from how fucked up everything is around here. Have a nice day. Maybe ride the bike path.

I know plenty, and my taxes pay for it so you could say I'm entitled to complain if I want.

**Wesley Mouch** · November-09-14, 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by Gpwrangler

You must be right judging from how fucked up everything is around here. Have a nice day. Maybe ride the bike path.

I know plenty, and my taxes pay for it so you could say I'm entitled to complain if I want.

Complain -- but understand that it takes a long time to de f--- things. You'll see a lot more stupidity on the road to good governance.

Fixing streetlights is easy. Hard is building a department that knows what to do and how to do it.

Good luck, Mayor Duggan.

**JBMcB** · November-09-14, 12:29 PM

Harbor Freight often has coupons for free LED head-mounted lights, and very nice small aluminum flashlights as well. They are usually in the advertising section of the newspapers on the weekends.

**Hamtragedy** · November-09-14, 01:35 PM

The money is being spent to once again rip up that stupid boulevard in the middle of Livernois, where only now it kooks like they're installing cable. It's a f$%^&n shame they didn't do this damn thing right when they went thru all the controversy and headache with this project barely 5 years ago.

Business as usual.

**paulj313** · November-09-14, 03:58 PM

PLA has been pretty busy here in the McNichols-Greenfield area, I'm impressed.

**animatedmartian** · November-09-14, 05:46 PM

If anyone actually paid attention to the schedule for the PLA planned zip codes, the neighborhoods farthest from downtown get their light replaced first while the PLA moves in towards downtown. Zip codes in and adjacent to downtown won't see their lights replaced until early 2015.

**Jimaz** · November-09-14, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

If anyone actually paid attention to the schedule for the PLA planned zip codes, the neighborhoods farthest from downtown get their light replaced first while the PLA moves in towards downtown. Zip codes in and adjacent to downtown won't see their lights replaced until early 2015.

Here's a link to the scheduled construction map by zip code.

**sumas** · November-10-14, 12:29 AM

Originally Posted by Wheels

I love my neighborhood!

Don't be an idiot. Having a great neighborhood and street lights that work are apples and oranges. Your comment comes as pumpkins. really ugly pumpkins.

**sumas** · November-10-14, 12:58 AM

Do have one viable street light left. Across from us. Looks like a cluster fuck with people parking near that sole solitary light, No blame from me.

**sumas** · November-10-14, 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by JBMcB

Harbor Freight often has coupons for free LED head-mounted lights, and very nice small aluminum flashlights as well. They are usually in the advertising section of the newspapers on the weekends.

I adore Harbor Freight. Newest toy is a chain saw.

**Aerojoe** · November-10-14, 07:27 AM

Living in the 48205 test zone I can say the new lights are worse then the old lights unless you have one right in front of your house. I do had to beg the workers to replace it they were going to cut it down.

As for alley lights Menards has a super bright 40w led area light I replaced our 200w sodium with and it now lights my yard and both my neighbors yards.

You would think after all the complaints about lighting they would have stopped replacing and looked for a better light but I guess not. It would seem a simple diffuser would fit the problem with the lights.

**Detroitnerd** · November-10-14, 11:57 AM

Haven't you heard? The magical bankruptcy machine turned all your lights back on. Steve Pardo says so:

"Streetlights, long dark, are on again."

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2014/11/09/now-detroit-focuses-services/18783899/

**belleislerunner** · November-10-14, 01:49 PM

Next time take a flashlight with you when you walk. That's what country folk do and they manage to get places without crying.

**EastsideAl** · November-10-14, 02:06 PM

The new "up to federal standards" lighting is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. So the "federal standards" call for LESS light than the hardly-adequate [[and rarely powered) lights we had before?

Because they are going around ripping out working light poles, and leaving no lighting at all on our streets for months. Then finally replacing them with one, or at most 2, piss-poor "new" lights per block, that light up nothing more than the little circle of street directly underneath them.

All we wanted was a return to what we had: several working and powered street lights per block, dammit. Is that just too much to ask? Instead we get this cockamamie boondoggle of a plan to spend umpteen million dollars on crappy lights that are worse than what they are [[sloooowly) replacing.