From today's Free Press:
Broken streetlights leave Detroiters in dark
BY ZACHARY GORCHOW • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • April 17, 2009
When night falls, Detroiter T.J. Spikes looks out from his house on East Outer Drive with frustration.
Most of the streetlights are out. After years of Spikes begging city officials to fix the lights, some workers finally came out last fall but succeeded in repairing only a handful, Spikes said.
Just a block south, a half-mile stretch of East Outer Drive is shrouded in darkness where the road runs past Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Every light is out.
"It's really a safety problem," said Spikes, 65, whose garage was broken into a year ago, costing him a snowblower, a leaf blower and car tires. Criminals "see it's dark all the time -- that gives them a reason."
Street-lighting woes and residents' frustration at the city's slow response continue to rage, as they have for years, so the Free Press spent three nights in March driving more than 200 miles of city streets examining the state of some of Detroit's 88,000 lights, at least 9,000 of which are out.
Ed Kiebzak said that as a taxpayer, he's frustrated with the lack of response. Resident Mary Lewis said the darkness is scary when she leaves for work in the morning.
It was nearly impossible to drive more than a half mile without finding outages. Main roads were especially in bad shape.
With a $300-million deficit, money for improvements is scarce. There are four 2-person crews for basic light repairs.
More related articles including
• Repairs can take years
• Elected officials live with it, too
• City wants to use Edison’s system
Can also be found at http://www.freep.com/article/2009041...4170345/?imw=Y
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