DETROIT – The Public Lighting Authority of Detroit on Tuesday said a block-by-block review of street lights in two Detroit neighborhoods has revealed that nearly 45 percent of them aren't working.
The survey was the first phase of two pilot projects that the authority launched as it begins its work to provide reliable street lights in the city. There are about 88,000 streets lights in the city.
Video: Detroit lighting survey underway
A total of 4,939 lights were surveyed in the two areas, with 2,211, 44.8 percent, not working.
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PLA Executive Director Odis Jones said information from the review will be used to design new street lighting for both areas. He said construction and installation of the new lights will begin in early November.
"Before we could develop a plan to renovate the city's street lights, it was critical that we have accurate, up-to-date information on the system as it exists today," said Jones.
He added that most of the city's previous current data was 15 years old.
Jones said the east side demonstration project, comprised of an area with boundaries of Eight Mile, Kelly Rd., Hoover and Houston Whittier, has a total of has a total of 3,194 lights, with 1,777 lights working and 1,417 not working, meaning 44.4 percent of its lights are out.
The west side demonstration project, with boundaries of McNichols on the north, Southfield Rd. on the east, Fenkell on the south and Telegraph on the west, with a small extension in the Five Points area of the city south of McNichols and west of Telegraph, has a total of 1,745 lights, with 951 lights working and 794 not working, meaning 45.5 percent of its lights are out.