Thousands of streetlights out, Cleveland Public Power looks to improve

CLEVELAND - Cleveland residents turned to 5 On Your Side to report large strips of streetlights that aren't working. So,  NewsChannel5 went in search of answers. 

Patrick Manfroni enjoys living in downtown Cleveland. His condo is located near Quicken Loans Arena and a series of great restaurants. However, Manfroni claims walking in downtown Cleveland has become increasingly hazardous due a growing number of streetlights that aren't working.

"It's very unsettling sometimes to walk past people who look undesirable, who you don't want to pass on a dark street," said Manfroni. "There are clearly some major infrastructure problems here."

Manfroni took NewsChannel5 on a tour of the area near his downtown condo, and pointed to more than a dozen dark streetlights within a 1,000 foot radius.

Community activist Henry Senyak is another Cleveland resident who has spent considerable time reporting streetlights to Cleveland Public Power. Senyak claims he's reported thousands of dark streetlights in the past five years. He showed us a quarter-mile stretch of lights that were out on Prospect Avenue, in front of the usually busy Wolstein Center. Senyak also pointed out another large stretch of dark lights on Lakeside Avenue, from Cleveland City Hall all the way down to the Cuyahoga County Justice Center.

"These lights have been out for a month. It looks like a circuit issue," said Senyak, who blames aging infrastructure and lighting equipment that is obsolete. In some cases parts are no longer available.

Senyak believes Cleveland Public Power has improved its service response in recent years, but insists more needs to be done.

"They're putting more crews on, training more crews, but you have an aging infrastructure," said Senyak. "You have many fixtures you can't replace anymore."

Senyak claimed the City of Cleveland is made up of more than 30 different styles of fixtures, and believes bad planning is to blame.

5 On Your Side reported the outages to Cleveland Public Power Headquarters and the utility quickly responded. Streetlight service was restored to sections of Prospect and Lakeside Avenue within a 24-hour period.

Cleveland Public Power Bureau Chief of Street Lighting James Ferguson told NewsChannel5 there were 800 streetlight complaints pending at the end of 2011, but added that number was 200 less that 2010.

"We're always looking to improve and get better," said Ferguson. "Service improvements are one of our biggest goals for this year, creating a more aggressive tracking system."

Ferguson reported Cleveland Public Power has now added two additional service crews to help take care of Cleveland's 70,000 streetlights. He also acknowledged the importance of residents being the "eyes and ears" of the Cleveland Public Power reporting system.

Ferguson urges residents to report bad streetlights to the complaint and tracking center by calling (216) 621-5483 or (216) 621-LITE.

Meanwhile, residents like Robert Carillio believe much more needs to be done to solve a potentially hazardous problem. 

"The City of Cleveland has to invest more money into this important part of our infrastructure," said Carillio. "They need to get out here and be more proactive."

Cleveland Public Power is now looking into a pilot program that would test the viability of switching the city streetlights to a new LED system, but admits the switch could take years.

In the meantime, it's important residents report streetlights that are out as soon as they see them, and follow-up often.