Race for mayor highlights Indy streetlight concerns
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Indianapolis needs more streetlights. But who will pay for them?
It’s a matter of public safety that has been an unresolved issue since the early ’80s. It’s also why it’s dark in the neighborhood just south of Broad Ripple Avenue.
The city of Indianapolis imposed a street light moratorium in the ’80s as a way to cap the electric bill. As a result, efforts to acquire new lights there have been unsuccessful.
Elizabeth Marshall of the Broad Ripple Village Association curses the darkness.
“Safety is a big concern of ours,” she said.
Light is not a problem on Washington Street in Irvington. 48 lights now luminate an area where once there were just 15.
Margaret Banning of the Irvington Development Organization basks in the light.
“It’s really important to us,” she said, “and it makes a difference.”
It’s a tale of two neighborhoods.
The Broad Ripple experience is the reason for a recent Joe Hogsett campaign ad. The Democratic candidate for mayor says the city needs to switch to LED lighting.
“You’re going to have a cost savings of approximately 60 percent just by changing technology,” said Hogsett. “The cost savings would be reinvested in more street lights.”
Even Republican opponent Chuck Brewer agrees.
“There’s no question that I agree that we need more street lights,” said Brewer. “That would be part of the public safety plans.”
The other solution is the one found in Irvington, where residents pay most of the light bill themselves. It’s a big one.
“Just under $12,000 a year, every year, forever,” said Banning.
They do it in innovative ways. At the Black Acre Brewing Company, they brew a beer called Streetlamp Blonde. It’s a light beer that costs $5 per glass. If you buy one, Black Acre Brewing contributes $1 to a street lighting fund. That fund already has enough money in it to keep the street light in front of the brewery shining for seven years.
When asked if people buy it because they know where the money is going, Jordan Gleason of Black Acre Brewing said, “Yes, actually, surprisingly more than we thought,”
Back in Broad Ripple, porch lights and yard lights make a difference, but street lights are few and far between. Some areas are pitch black.
“And the lights as you can see, they’re old and they’re very high,” said Marshall. “They’re designed for highways; they’re not designed for urban neighborhoods. And we definitely would like some more lighting in our neighborhoods.”
A spokeswoman for Indianapolis Power and Light says the utility will continue to work with the city on ideas to better utilize the city budget for street lighting.