There are just about 10 hours of daylight in the City of Milwaukee right now, but those other 14 hours are extra dark in a number of neighborhoods.
The City’s Department of Public Works says it is dealing with an all-time high number of streetlight outages. As of Monday morning, there were 121 active street lighting circuit troubles (outages) reported. According to the City's complaint system, there have been 39 complaints of streetlight outages this year alone.
But it’s an issue that’s been going on for much longer than those numbers say.
“For the last seven days, it’s been pretty much pitch black,” John Jeffrey said. “From my house and four houses down, you can’t see the cars behind me.”
Jeffrey lives on Kathryn Avenue just south of Villard Avenue. His block is going on a full week without streetlights and he’s growing concerned for how this could impact his neighborhood.
“I’m just waiting to hear the crash,” Jeffrey said. “Luckily, nothing has happened yet but seven days without lights, it’s been pretty bad.”
There is a slight curve at the end of his block. For those in the neighborhood, it’s second nature to take the turn but for those who are new to the neighborhood or cutting through, Jeffrey is worried they may crash into a parked car or, even worse, a home. He’s put calls into the city to get it fixed, but the lights are still off.
“If we’re paying for city lights on our bills and everything, why shouldn’t they be working?” Jeffrey said.
DPW believes the bounce back in temperatures from the recent cold snap have put a strain on the city’s aging lighting systems. They say the surge in outages is due to the moisture from the melting snow and rain on the direct-bury street lighting cable.
DPW crews repaired 20 of the 121 active outages Monday but 20 more were reported Monday night. Crews were on schedule to repair 30 outages Tuesday.
It appeared as Jeffrey’s neighborhood was one of those 30 outages repaired Tuesday. Just after 5:00 p.m. while he was talking with TMJ4 News, the lights flickered on.
“Hey!” Jeffrey said. “Look at this one! Look at this! Send in a request and boom!”
It was a short lived miracle. Five minutes later, they lights fluttered off.
“Of course,” Jeffrey said. “See? Went back out.”
It’s something Jeffrey can only laugh at now. But he doesn’t find any humor in the possibility of crime increasing due to these outages. Tuesday night, Milwaukee Police were called to a neighbor’s house around the corner for reports of an armed robbery.
“Light is supposed to be a deterrent for criminal activity,” Jeffrey said. “With no lights here, who is to say there is not someone creeping around in the bushes? We have kids on the block and elderly folks. Crime was our main concern.”
DPW says to report street lighting outages to 414-286-CITY (2489) or by reporting it online at the City’s complaint website.
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