Detroit lighting authority finishes replacing 20,000 faulty streetlights

Detroit’s Public Lighting Authority has finished replacing thousands of defective streetlights that prematurely failed.

Crews have swapped out nearly 20,000 faulty streetlights, starting on heavily trafficked thoroughfares before moving next into neighborhoods, according to a Monday news release.

The lighting authority, which maintains the city’s street lighting infrastructure, started replacing the bad streetlights in June, a month after filing a lawsuit against manufacturer San Jose, Calif.-based Leotek Electronics USA LLC.

Leotek made about a third of Detroit’s LED streetlights that were expected to last 10 years. Negotiations with the manufacturer are ongoing, the release said.

The last defective streetlights on West Warren Avenue, just west of Grand River, will be replaced with lights from Detroit-based America’s Green Line, according to a news release.

The issue was identified when PLA noticed an “excessive number of calls” regarding the faulty lights as well as through routine surveys of the lighting system in which inspectors confirmed the unusual deterioration and “burnout” rate from the Leotek lights.

A number of randomly selected Leotek lights were assessed, revealing a systemwide failure, the release said.

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Source: Detroit lighting authority finishes replacing 20,000 faulty streetlights