Detroit’s public lighting crisis: Nearly 45 percent of lights in neighborhoods not working, survey says

October 23, 2013

MLive
By Eric Lacy

Posted October 22, 2013 at 12:42 PM, updated October 22, 2013 at 1:37 PM

Detroit’s public lighting crisis: Nearly 45 percent of lights in neighborhoods not working, survey says

Some sobering news was released Tuesday about Detroit’s public lighting system and its inability to serve taxpaying residents.

The Public Lighting Authority of Detroit released a survey that found 45 percent of lights not working in just two neighborhoods of this 138-square mile city.

A total of 4,939 lights were surveyed in the two areas, with 2,211 (44.8 percent) not working.

This survey marked the first phase of two pilot projects that the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit launched as it begins its work to “provide reliable street lights in the city.”

News came the same day Forbes Magazine named Detroit the country’s most dangerous city for the fifth straight year.

A breakdown from the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit website of the two neighborhoods studied:

East side demonstration project

Comprised of an area with boundaries of Eight Mile, Kelly Rd., Hoover and Houston Whittier, has a total of has a total of 3,194 lights, with 1,777 lights working and 1,417 not working, meaning 44.4 percent of its lights are out.

West side demonstration project

Comprised of area with boundaries of McNichols on the north, Southfield Rd. on the east, Fenkell on the south and Telegraph on the west, with a small extension in the Five Points area of the city south of McNichols and west of Telegraph, has a total of 1,745 lights, with 951 lights working and 794 not working, meaning 45.5 percent of its lights are out.

More about the PLA

The PLA was authorized by the Michigan Legislature last year and approved by the Detroit City Council earlier this year to “design and implement a three-year plan to improve Detroit’s public lighting system.”

It is governed by a five-member board appointed by Mayor Dave Bing and the City Council.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/10/detroits_public_lighting_crisi.html

Discover our Mission

The Public Lighting Authority (PLA) is a state-created authority whose mission is to improve, modernize and maintain all street lights in the City of Detroit with brighter, more reliable, more energy efficient lights. The new lights in neighborhoods are 150-watt equivalent LED lights, twice as bright as the 75-watt equivalent High Pressure Sodium Lights that were the standard under the old system. The LED lights are also much more energy efficient than the High Pressure Sodium lights.