Detroit freeway lighting... or lack of.

[jOnstar]

     Has anyone else noticed many of the area freeways having big sections with lights off? I know I-94 on the east side is upgrading the lighting, but I was driving down I-75 between 8 mile and downtown on my way to the auto show, and a good section south and north of Hamtramack has the freeway lights off. These are sections where the freeway should not be in the dark for any reason. Not only is it a busy traffic area, but it's not the safest area to break down in.

    I also had to run to Southfield, and then back to downtown later last night and noticed the Lodge (M-10) was dark over by the Davison (M-8). Yet... another section that for no reason should be dark.

    Seems like this is turning into the norm in the city limits and other areas where the cities are going broke. I-75 south of the city has a section off or half on in Allen Park.

    I can understand the money issues, but it's also a real safety concern.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Maybe the wiring has been stolen

[jOnstar]

     You know... as funny as that sounds, I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried.

[AsphaltPlanet]

who pays for freeway lighting in Michigan?  The city or MDOT?

[Big John]

     You know... as funny as that sounds, I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried.

Not that funny.  That is a big problem in Atlanta and a good amount of the freeway lights stay dark.  So I can see that as a reason.

[tdindy88]

That brings up something from last year when I went up to the Auto Show with some friends (I'm planning on doing so this coming weekend in fact.) Last year it had snowed a little in Detroit and we were returning home to Indiana along I-94 west of the city and had to slow down for some icy spots on the freeway in the area around the airport, but it seemed that upon crossing the boundary into Washtenaw County the road was clear. I would have assumed that the state plowed all freeways in the metro area, regardless of city or county, but I'm not sure after that.

[jOnstar]

As far as I know, the counties control the freeways in the metro area when it comes to clearing the snow.

[agentsteel53]

has anyone considered a deterrent against wiring theft?  such as, maybe, passing thousands of volts of electricity through it?

just an idea.

[theline]

One or two would-be thieves have had an abrupt end to their careers when cutting lines that they mistakenly thought were dead. The publicity seems to deter the bad guys--for awhile. At least, that's been my observation in my area.

[Brandon]

Do urban freeways really need lights?  IIRC, other urban freeways tend to lack lights such as Milwaukee.  Plus, there's not much lighting out in the rural areas in either Michigan or Wisconsin along the freeways.

[AsphaltPlanet]

^ Certainly the engineers who recommend their installation would tell you so.

[ARMOURERERIC]

has anyone considered a deterrent against wiring theft?  such as, maybe, passing thousands of volts of electricity through it?

just an idea.

Since you are from San Diego as well................

A few years back there was an arrest made of a couple of persons along CA 54 near Briarwood, it was in broad daylight and they were in the proccess of stealing $400K worth of underground copper wiring for the interchange.  They had a fakey Caltrans truck, all wore Caltrans uniforms and had the needed mechanical wire pullers.

[Mdcastle]

Urban freeways need lights, and rural interchanges do too, studies have shown a definite safety benefit. Whether they actually have them (Viriginia and Wisconsin I'm looking at you) is a different story.

I noticed large dark sections in Charlotte. Turns out it's the copper thieves again. Various things have been tired to various degrees of sucess, such as increase police patrols, intrusion alarms, remote locable junction boxes, and wire clamps.

[mgk920]

Do urban freeways really need lights?  IIRC, other urban freeways tend to lack lights such as Milwaukee.  Plus, there's not much lighting out in the rural areas in either Michigan or Wisconsin along the freeways.

Nearly all of Milwaukee County's freeways are all well lit and some of that lighting extends some distance outside of the county.

I wonder why we are not seeing more of that light wiring being strung above ground because of the theft issue.

Mike

[InterstateNG]

Do urban freeways really need lights?  IIRC, other urban freeways tend to lack lights such as Milwaukee.  Plus, there's not much lighting out in the rural areas in either Michigan or Wisconsin along the freeways.

Don't need to give white suburbanites another reason to be scared of going to Detroit.

[jOnstar]

Exactly!!! Other than sections in Downtown... Detroit is scary enough!

[jOnstar]

In response to rural lighting... I would like to see more in Michigan. Could use it quite a bit on many sections including I-94 in Macomb & St. Clair county. I also like what MDOT did with M-39 (Southfield Freeway) in the Detroit limits and on portions of I-696 with the new LED lights installed in the center of the freeway.

[Brandon]

I just don't see the need for the rural freeway lighting.  I find Illinois uses too many damn lights at interchanges.  Reflectors are a far better idea, IMHO.

[InterstateNG]

Exactly!!! Other than sections in Downtown... Detroit is scary enough!

Why would someone from Sterling Heights need to go anywhere other than downtown?

If you break down at McNichols and 75 at night, some street lights aren't going to be a deterrent.

[Mdcastle]

I do find Kansas's use of metal halide towers rather unique, and when Tennessee decides to light an interchange it's about as bright as a car dealership.

I'd speculate overhead wiring isn't used because every time a drunk knocked over a pole it would rip down a long span of wiring, besides looking ugly.

[jOnstar]

Well that's because I drive all around town for a living.

[jOnstar]

And your right... street lights may not be a help, but its sure safer when people driving at you can see you.

[vdeane]

Isn't that what headlights are for?

[Brandon]

Isn't that what headlights are for?

That's what I kinda thought as well.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Freeway illumination prevents drivers from overdriving their headlights.  For most cars, at freeway speeds with only their lowbeam headlights on, their headlights would not illuminate a hazard with sufficient time to stop and avoid it.  This is why the nighttime accident rate is often higher than it is for the same location during the day.  Freeway illumination provides a remedy to this problem.