1 year ago
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AREA, RIGHT, JOHN? YEAH, GUY WE COUNTED 100 OUT OF 103, ACTUALLY. LIGHTS ON THE INTERSTATE I FOR 59 BETWEEN LIBERTY PARK AND 280 THAT DO NOT WORK AND WHILE THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY INTERSTATE DRIVERS IN THIS AREA STILL IN THE DARK WE DID UNCOVER SOME SIGNS THERE ARE BRIGHTER DAYS ON THE HORIZON. SINCE 2021, WE’VE HIGHLIGHTED JEFFERSON COUNTY’S LACK OF INTERSTATE ALUMINA PORTION, UNCOVERING MORE THAN 1000 BUSTED STREET LAMPS ON 145 HIGHWAY MILES. THOSE POCKETS OF DRIVING DARKNESS INCLUDE 182 LIGHTS IN IRONDALE. AND THEY’RE ALL OUT. IT’S 9.6 ACRES, HALF $1,000,000. WHILE THESE BLUEPRINTS HIGHLIGHT MAYOR JAMES STEWART’S PLANS TO BUILD NEW BALL FIELDS AND A DOG PARK. THIS MAP SHOWS A DIFFERENT IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY. DOZENS OF NON-WORKING INTERSTATE LIGHTS. I THINK IT’S UNREASONABLE FOR ALL OF THE MUNICIPALITIES THAT WE HAVE AN INTERSTATE SYSTEM THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE LIT DURING THE NIGHTTIME AND THERE ARE NO LIGHTS ON THE INTERSTATE. WARRIOR MAYOR JOHNNY RAGLAND IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE JEFFERSON COUNTY MAYORS ASSOCIATION IN A GROUP WHO’S BEEN WAITING ON A HIGHWAY LAMP SOLUTION FOR YEARS. THEY SAY, HEY, YOU KNOW, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A PLAN READY IN SIX MONTHS. AND THAT’S BEEN A YEAR AND A HALF, TWO YEARS AGO. HOW FRUSTRATING IS THAT? OH, IT’S VERY FRUSTRATING. IN FACT, TWO YEARS AGO, WE TOO, WERE TOLD A COMPREHENSIVE INTERSTATE LIGHT FIX WAS ONLY MONTHS AWAY. BUT LIKE RAGLAND ARE STILL WAITING FOR TO TAKE EFFECT. TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO’S GOT WHAT. WHO OWNS WHAT? WHO’S GOING TO PLAY FOR WHAT? WHO’S GOING TO BE RESPONSIBLE TO FIX THEM AND ALL THIS KIND OF STUFF. THIS IS OUR BIGGEST CONCERN TO SEEK ANSWERS FOR RAGLAND AND OTHER FRUSTRATED MAYORS. WE ONCE AGAIN SAT DOWN WITH OUR VDOT DIVISION ENGINEER DAY JARVIS LEONARD. WHY HASN’T THAT PLAN BEEN FULLY IMPLEMENTED OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS? WELL, WE’VE RUN INTO SOME SNACKS THAT HAVEN’T ALLOWED US TO MOVE FORWARD. BUT LEONARD STRESSED THEY ARE SLOWLY MAKING PROGRESS. MORE THAN 300 LIGHTS WERE REPLACED ON I-20 BETWEEN DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM AND THE AIRPORT LAST YEAR. PLUS, WE’RE WORKING WITH IRONDALE TO TRY TO IDENTIFY WHAT’S GOING ON WITH ALL THEIR LIGHTS ALONG I-20 AND IN AND GET THOSE BACK FUNCTIONING. THAT’S RIGHT. AND MAYOR STEWART SAYS IRONDALE HAS ALREADY APPROVED A PLAN TO TURN THE LIGHTS BACK ON. ALBERT WILL FIX THE ELECTRIC GRID, SUPPLYING POWER TO THE LAMPS. AND THE POWER COMPANY WILL HANDLE THE REST. SO AS SOON AS THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS REPAIRED, THEN ALABAMA POWER IS GOING TO COME AND CHANGE OUT ALL THE HEADS. SO THE CITY OF IRONDALE IS GOING TO BE A VERY BRIGHT CITY. HOPEFULLY MANY OTHER JEFFERSON COUNTY CITIES WILL SOON FOLLOW. MAYOR STEWART SAYS THAT INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR WILL COST ABOUT $633,000. THEY WILL THEN PAY THE POWER COMPANY $120,000 A YEAR TO CHANGE OUT THE LIGHT FIXTURES AND MAINTAIN THOSE LIGHTS. AS FOR THE FIXTURES ALONG I-4 59 HERE BETWEEN LIBERTY PARK AND 280, ELDON TOLD ME THEY WOULD CHECK ON IT. WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED. LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM, JO
WVTM 13 Investigates: Plan coming to fix Irondale's interstate lights
Since 2021, we have uncovered more than 1,000 busted street lamps on 145 interstate miles. Those pockets of driving darkness include 182 lights in Irondale.Mayor James Stewart says all of them are broken."I think it's unreasonable for all of the municipalities that we have an interstate system that is supposed to be lit during the nighttime and there are no lights on the interstate," Stewart said.Warrior Mayor Johnny Ragland is the President of the Jefferson County Mayor's Association.That's a group who has been waiting on a highway lamp solution for years. "They said, hey, you know, we're going to have a plan ready in six months. And that's been a year and a half, two years ago," Ragland said.In fact, two years ago, we too were told a comprehensive interstate light fix was only months away.Unfortunately, like Ragland, we are still waiting for it to take effect."Trying to figure out who's got what, who owns what, who's gonna pay for what, who's going to be responsible to fix them. And all this kind of stuff is is our biggest concern," Ragland said.To seek answers for Ragland and other frustrated mayors, we once again sat down with ALDOT Division Engineer Dejarvis Leonard.We asked him why a plan he told us about two years ago had not been fully implemented yet."Well, we've run into some snags that haven't allowed us to move forward," Leonard said.However, Leonard pointed out they are slowly making progress. More than 300 lights were replaced on I-20 between downtown Birmingham and the airport last year."We're working with Irondale to try to identify what's going on with all of their lights along I-20 and and and get those back functioning," Leonard said.That's right, and Mayor Stewart says Irondale has already approved a plan to turn the lights back on. ALDOT will fix the electric grid supplying power to the lamps and the Power Company will handle the rest."So, as soon as the infrastructure is repaired, then Alabama Power is going to come and change out all the heads. So the City of Irondale is going to be a very bright city," Stewart said.Stewart said the lighting infrastructure deal with ALDOT will cost $633,000 and Alabama Power will charge $120,000 a year to replace the light fixtures and maintain them moving forward.
IRONDALE, Ala. —
Since 2021, we have uncovered more than 1,000 busted street lamps on 145 interstate miles.
Those pockets of driving darkness include 182 lights in Irondale.
Mayor James Stewart says all of them are broken.
"I think it's unreasonable for all of the municipalities that we have an interstate system that is supposed to be lit during the nighttime and there are no lights on the interstate," Stewart said.
Warrior Mayor Johnny Ragland is the President of the Jefferson County Mayor's Association.
That's a group who has been waiting on a highway lamp solution for years.
"They said, hey, you know, we're going to have a plan ready in six months. And that's been a year and a half, two years ago," Ragland said.
In fact, two years ago, we too were told a comprehensive interstate light fix was only months away.
Unfortunately, like Ragland, we are still waiting for it to take effect.
"Trying to figure out who's got what, who owns what, who's gonna pay for what, who's going to be responsible to fix them. And all this kind of stuff is is our biggest concern," Ragland said.
To seek answers for Ragland and other frustrated mayors, we once again sat down with ALDOT Division Engineer Dejarvis Leonard.
We asked him why a plan he told us about two years ago had not been fully implemented yet.
"Well, we've run into some snags that haven't allowed us to move forward," Leonard said.
However, Leonard pointed out they are slowly making progress.
More than 300 lights were replaced on I-20 between downtown Birmingham and the airport last year.
"We're working with Irondale to try to identify what's going on with all of their lights along I-20 and and and get those back functioning," Leonard said.
That's right, and Mayor Stewart says Irondale has already approved a plan to turn the lights back on.
ALDOT will fix the electric grid supplying power to the lamps and the Power Company will handle the rest.
"So, as soon as the infrastructure is repaired, then Alabama Power is going to come and change out all the heads. So the City of Irondale is going to be a very bright city," Stewart said.
Stewart said the lighting infrastructure deal with ALDOT will cost $633,000 and Alabama Power will charge $120,000 a year to replace the light fixtures and maintain them moving forward.
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