A dark Abbott Street.
Residents on Abbott Street in OB have been complaining for a long time about broken and non-working street lights. At least for a year.
Neighbors are worried about crime and accidents at night on the darkened street.
Take Jon Carr, for instance. The Abbott Street resident and former vice-president of the OB Town Council (and former Rag writer) told News8 that he’s filed many complaints on the city’s “Get It Done” app and has written Councilmember Campbell’s office about his complaints and concerns. He’s been told more than once that they’re ‘get back’ to him. Said Carr:
“I don’t know what else to do. So here we are. Still with the lights out. Still a really, dark street.”
He’s not the only one. Another neighbor interviewed, Lydia Kardos, said she’s reported the problem to the city several times. “No answer, no nothing,” she said. Kardos was hit by a car while riding her bike on Abbott after the Holiday Parade — and the driver just drove off. She added:
“No one would have seen me laying the road because there are no streetlights so they were waving cars from behind to stop.”
According to News8, “the city stated aging streetlights are one of the more frequents reports they receive. Since 2020, the city says it responded to more than 40 Get It Done reports associated with streetlights either outages, knock overs, vandalism citywide.” The news station contacted the city about the issue on Monday and by Thursday, city crews were working on the lights.
In an e-mail statement to News 8, city spokesperson Anthony Santacroce wrote:
“The series of street lights along Abbot Street are currently part of the Abbott Street Series Circuit Capital Improvement Project working to repair and replace these long-lived lights. The surrounding community has been noticed and there is signage in the area describing the project, which is expected to be completed next year.
The streetlights and their associated electrical equipment are some of the oldest in the City, and consequently have some of the most frequent issues. Since the beginning of 2020, the City has responded to more than 40 reports of outages, knock-overs and vandalism through the Get It Done application and we encourage the community keep reporting street light issues to Get It Done.
Repairing and replacing street lights is complicated work that can involve set backs and long timelines. We look forward to the completion of the project when we are able to provide the community with the safety and visibility of new, reliable street lights.”
The TV crew could not locate any of the signs supposedly notifying the neighborhood. Carr commented about the TV station’s involvement:
“It’s disconcerting that through numerous requests and multiple neighbors, get it done requests, direct requests to our council persons office that it took you getting involved to get an answer. It is a very simple answer that is all I wanted.”
Councilmember Campbell’s office sent a statement:
“Street lights in our neighborhoods provide visibility and promote a sense of safety after dark. Unfortunately, the economic downturn has impacted city department timelines for repairing broken streetlights throughout the City. In the past two budget cycles, I have advocated for street light repair funding.
My office has been in contact with department staff to receive updates and encourage an expedited timeline for fixes, especially in Ocean Beach. I will continue to advocate for additional funding in the coming fiscal year budget process to support the needs of the department.”
This may have satisfied Jon Carr that at least he – through the news channel – finally has received an answer.
Yet, the street is still dark. And even though the city is promising to have the streetlights up and shining next year, it has been as noted that residents along Abbott have been complaining for over a year – perhaps more like over two years about them. Street lights are a basic part of the infrastructure, especially along a busy street like Abbott.
Residents need to keep up the pressure – and if anyone sees one of those signs the city said it put up to notify the community about the project – let us know, will ya?
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These streetlights along Abbott st and Santa Monica have been out pretty much since 2015. I think there were some repairs done in about 2016 but they were short lived. I’m guessing the bases being submerged numerous times during flooding hasn’t helped.
Meanwhile the city is waiving infrastructure fees on new high-density projects, because it’s too much of a hardship on builders.