Some Lansing neighborhoods going dark after streetlights go out

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Some Lansing neighborhoods are going dark because streetlights aren’t getting fixed.

Dozens of streetlights in the Potter Walsh neighborhood on Lansing’s east side were out when News 10 went through the neighborhood Wednesday night.

“An accident waiting to happen,” said LaSandra Jones who’s lived in the neighborhood for 30 years.

She’s also been reporting streetlights that don’t work for a couple years.

“You can turn the corner and see why the crime is so high,” said Jones.

Jones said it simply comes down to safety, from criminals and drivers.

“With it being dark, they wouldn’t be able to see kids, they wouldn’t be able to see people crossing the street,” said Jones.

“Kids are crossing the street. Cars speed and it’s very dark in the neighborhoods at night,” said Ryan Kost.

Kost has reported more than 100 lights not working to the city in the last month. He said only a handful has been fixed.

“I was a little bit surprised and as I spread out further and further, I have seen there are certain areas that are very well lit, like Michigan Avenue,” said Kost.

Lansing has gotten more than 50 complaints of streetlights being out in the last week. Included in those is one Wednesday night at Moores River Drive and Hess, which is near Moores Park.

Lansing Connect, the city’s complaint reporting system, shows lights are out across the city. One on Todd Avenue Near Moores Park was reported in the last week.

Neighbors told News 10 it was fixed Thursday morning. And Jones doesn’t think that’s fair.

“I’ve always felt like the East Side has been ignored to a certain extent and the lighting problems, that’s one of them,” said Jones.

“I want to see these streetlights get fixed so we can really have a walkable community where everybody can go outside and enjoy the community,” said Kost.

A city spokeswoman told News 10 Thursday all street light complaints get pushed to BWL.

In an e-mail sent to News 10, the Lansing Board of Water and Light sent us the following statement:

The Lansing Board of Water & Light is committed to ensuring streetlight repairs are made in a timely fashion and take pride in the reliability in the system. In the last 90 days, we’ve changed out over 1,000 bulbs out of 34,500 total in our service territory. Similar to many industries, we’ve experienced an issue with the supply chain in order to get the appropriate parts needed to make repairs for certain streetlight bulbs in our service territory. While we are normally able to keep our 10 business day turn around, this gap in getting supplies has caused a delay for some repairs.
BWL is currently undergoing a four-year project to replace all streetlight bulbs in our service territory for LEDs. For more information on this program, and to see a map of the project’s dates, visit www.lbwl.com/streetlights.
Amy Adamy, Lansing Board of Water and Light Communications Manager

If you have an issue with the city, like streetlights, potholes and sidewalks, you can report it on Lansing Connect.

Subscribe to our News 10 newsletter and receive the latest local news and weather straight to your email every morning.