SAN DIEGO — Broken streetlights are nothing new in San Diego, but one City Heights woman says some in her neighborhood have been out for eight years.
"I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I wanna be proactive. I don’t wanna be reactive, and I wanna get it fixed now," said Crystal Nguyen.
During the day, you can't see the problem Nguyen is talking about. At night, however, it's a different story.
"We got new lights 10 years ago and then they worked for two and then they just stopped working. We've been without lights for eight years," said Nguyen.
Nguyen took video showing just how dark it is on 54th and University, where a total of three street lights are out.
She reported the issue to the City of San Diego's Get it Done app back in November, as did one of her neighbors.
When CBS 8 looked up the report number, the current status is listed as in process.
"The squeaky wheel gets the oil, so reaching out to CBS 8 was the only way I have left because how much longer am I gonna wait in a queue," said Nguyen.
Nguyen says the area is so dark, drivers have crashed into the fence that lines the middle of the street. It's dangerous for pedestrians as well.
She told CBS 8 homeless people have found refuge in the dark areas underneath the broken lights, and with Colina Del Sol park next door, she's concerned for people's safety.
“In City Heights, I think we're an underserved community and I want to represent us saying our streets are not lit well. I can’t have my kids walk safely. I can’t walk safely," she said.
The city has long acknowledged its backlog of broken streetlights, with over 5,000 and counting.
When CBS 8 checked, the Get it Done app listed the average wait time to get one fixed at 310 days.
The delay has to do with several factors, including delays in parts deliveries, complex and outdated street light circuits, and a high number of staff vacancies.
As for this particular trio of lights, a City of San Diego spokesperson told CBS 8:
“When a streetlight goes out, the solution to make a repair is not always as simple as fixing that one light. Our streetlights are attached to series circuits, which often require a lengthier process of addressing the entire circuit to evaluate the problem. Crews will investigate this location to determine how to restore lighting to the streetlight in question.
Streetlight repair is one of our highest priorities and the City has committed funding and resources to fixing the streetlight outage backlog across San Diego.
Currently, the City is using real-time maps to reveal corridors or groupings of streetlight outages that need repair. The City has recently secured 3.5 million in federal funding to expedite the necessary and challenging repair of series circuit lighting. We've also sought to improve repair times by bolstering our capacity with contracted independent electricians while we continue to hire City staff electricians.”
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