Street Light Installation Plan Goes Dark

The City of Columbus suspended a program aimed at lighting streets like the one where a man was struck and killed on Tuesday night, 10 Investigates’ Paul Aker reported Thursday.

The plan is inactive despite previous plans by the city of Columbus for extensive installation city wide, Aker reported.

Former city power employee Duff McSweeney said that the city originally had a plan to put lights on every Columbus street by 2020.

McSweeney said that policy changed about three years ago.

“(We) were told to not even refer to the year 2020, because that date, that year, would not be met,” McSweeney said.

Department of Public Utilities sells power. It previously used proceeds from that program to help pay for the light installation program, Aker reported.

Department of Public Utilities spokesman George Zonders said that decreased revenues caused the police change.

“The city light program is kind of on hold due to funding,” Zonders said.

Columbus resident Enoch Burgess said that streets without lighting were dangerous. 

“There’s maybe two street lights down there,” Burgess said.

Another man familiar with the area agreed.

“But I don’t think there is any down here. It’s really dark and dangerous. We need to be safe at night time if we need to walk somewhere,” Trevor Robison said.

According to city officials, when the program is operational, priorities are based on the number of people who call the amount of crime and the population.

Zonders said that the area of Tuesday’s accident would not be a priority when and if the program resumes.

“It’s really not even on the list at this point in time, because of the many priorities and criteria that we look at,” Zonders said. “It doesn’t really fall in.”

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