A look inside Detroit's crumbled public lighting system

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A look inside Detroit's crumbled public lighting system



http://WJBK.images.worldnow.com/images/2972468_G.jpg





With improvements promised, LeDuff exposes Detroit's public lighting system Posted: Nov 06, 2013 10:06 PM EST Updated: Nov 07, 2013 9:08 AM EST



http://WJBK.images.worldnow.com/images/23899994_BG2.jpg (http://WJBK.images.worldnow.com/images/23899994_BG2.jpg) A familiar site around the city of Detroit.

http://WJBK.images.worldnow.com/images/23899994_BG3.jpg (http://WJBK.images.worldnow.com/images/23899994_BG3.jpg) The city's public lighting grid, seen here on a map, complete with pushpins.

http://WJBK.images.worldnow.com/images/23899994_BG4.jpg (http://WJBK.images.worldnow.com/images/23899994_BG4.jpg) Detroit's Public Lighting Commission building

By: Charlie LeDuff
FOX 2 News DETROIT (WJBK) - Detroit street lights don't work like they do in most other American cities. They don't come on by a timer or solar sensors. That's right - they come on by hand. That is, if they come on at all.
Detroit: old and broken.

The fact is, almost half of the street lights in Detroit don't work, and nobody knows that better than you, Detroit.

Why in a major American city, doesn't something as basic as public lighting work? We took a trip to the Lighting Department to find out why.

What we found there was shocking: peeling paint, dirty floors and empty offices. It looked like a neutron bomb went off in 1959.

VIDEO: Click on the video player above to watch Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff's visit to the Lighting Dept.

Here are some of his findings:



The last time the system was mapped was using a 60s-style board with pins and yarn.
Zero dollars have been invested in upgrades in the last 40 years.
Nine employees remain, after cuts, to fix the 88,000 lights and 1,400 miles of electric line.

LeDuff spoke with newly-appointed director Odis Jones who says changes are coming.

"It's going to require us to do some significant, underground engineering design work, and that could take anywhere between four to six months. In the meantime, there are other work that could be done, today, now, and that's what we're going to start doing this Friday. We're going to start fixing those things we can fix now, designing those things that need to be designed, and in three years we're going to be done."



Read more: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/23899994/leduff-pays-a-visit-to-the-detroit-lighting-authority#.UnuEXmMqdVA.twitter#ixzz2jyOGFGb7

[mick silver]

i see just find without street light being on at night in the country . i like it better like that , learn to move around without lights .

[Ares]

i see just find without street light being on at night in the country . i like it better like that , learn to move around without lights .

Agreed, but in a high density area like Detroit that's a safety nightmare. But bad policy and bad economics is just that. You can't spend and promise more than you take in or it will lead you to ruin.

[Ponce]

I must say, the building looks pretty clean......it looks like the job of those nine employees is to keep the place clean.

V