Some street lights turned back on
Posted : Mar 1, 2010 9:08 PM
Updated: Mar 2, 2010 5:59 AM
Hundreds of streetlights have been turned off this year as part of a city plan to save more than 1 million dollars. Dave Krauth, a traffic engineer with the city says citizen reaction came swift. "People were concerned with streets being dark." he explains, "They couldn't see the sidewalks or they were concerned about crime."
After the first round of 50 or so complaints to the city about the lights, Krauth and his team looked at the possibility of turning some lights back on. They analyzed every concern on a one on one basis. "We looked at proximity to schools, proximity to school routes, hospitals." says Krauth. While not all of them could be restored, some were. "We had seven that we did identify to be turned back on."
The city is still reviewing complaints as they come in. They can't promise all will be turned on but encourage your input. "We can't guarantee we're going to be able to turn on the light again but we can't review it if we don't know about it." explains Krauth. Krauth also told us the city is starting an adopt-a-street light program in the coming weeks. We'll have more information for you on that program as it becomes available.
ROI? at Mar 2nd 2010 3:30 PM
I wonder how much the city is actually saving after paying crews to drive around the entire city shutting lights off? Obviously there is a cost of labor for a crew, plus the cost of fuel. Now they are paying for the crews to go back and turn some of those lights back on??? Seems like another half-baked plan that was not thoroughly analyzed and planned out before they started sending out the clowns.
Bob at Apr 28th 2010 12:37 PM
How does the city of Colorado Springs save a million dolars to shut off street lights when they generate their own electricity . So where does the money come from that they are not paying for the electricity