Milwaukee streetlight outages, contractors ‘unable to take on more work’

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee residents might see brighter streetlights, a side effect of snags with the city’s original plan to replace aging infrastructure.

“It’s like, they’re on for the first couple of seconds and then get the flashing, flickering, and it tends to go out, and it just be dark for the rest of the night,” said Tyler Tatumn.

The Milwaukee Common Council and mayor in 2021 and 2022 approved spending $19.5 million in federal COVID relief dollars to fix the worst streetlight circuits.

The Department of Public Works said 28 circuits around the city have abnormally high outages, including on the north side near 12th and Capitol.

The city has paid $1.2 million for design and engineering of the circuit replacements and has started buying needed supplies, which the city estimates will be between $7 million and $11 million, but there’s an unexpected detour, with federal money flooding infrastructure projects.

“All of the capacity of these trades are being stretched to the limit because the money is literally being pumped into the system faster than the capacity can grow,” said Alderman Bob Bauman.

The city has looked for outside contractors to replace the circuits. In June, no companies placed bids. In July, the city tried again. The bids were 2.5 times the estimated cost.

DPW talked to contractors who didn’t bid, and a memo shows: “Due to the increased amount of transportation investment occurring due to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, many of the contractors with the experience needed to do this type of electrical work are already at or past their capacity for this year and next and are unable to take on more work.”

Another problem is that the American Rescue Act money has to be spent by the end of 2026.

The DPW is asking the Common Council for a switch. They want to use the remaining circuit money to place LED lights on all light fixtures that can take the light bulb.

“If you go throughout the neighborhood, you’ll see, it’s a big difference,” said Bauman. “It’s a whole different feel in terms of the illumination. It’s a different color, and it’s less expensive to operate.”

The DPW estimated the LED lights will use 50% to 60%  less electricity and save the city $750,000 every year. 

Those with the worst circuits may still be in the dark. 

“Oh, we’re sorry. We’re doing the best we can,” said Bauman. “We’ll continue to do interim repairs and short-term fixes to the greatest extent possible.”

“It could be a little brighter because, you know, there’s crime everywhere,” said Tina Headen. “If you can’t really see, people aren’t going to say nothing. They’re not bright enough to say that they’re on. It’s still dark around there, but they do good. I hope we don’t have to pay for it.”

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On Thursday, Sept. 7, the Public Works Committee approved the proposed switch, which must also be approved by the full Common Council.