Salt Lake to let street lights go dark...

Image via Wikipedia
In a move to save money the city of Salt Lake when a mid block street light goes out, it will not be replaced. Folks in the Avenues, a section of Rose Park, and the downtown area will not have to worry about being in the dark as those mid street lights will be maintained.

The only news source that even mentions this is KSL:

Salt Lake City to save money by letting some street lights go dark

I love the comment by Salt Lake Transportation Director Jim Harpst "Homes and businesses should live their outside lights on". Well that is all find and dandy for the homeowners and businesses but what about pedestrians and transit riders?

This move will clearly make it less safe to walk the streets of Salt Lake City. Street lights make it more inviting to walk around after dark. This becomes even more critical when winter approaches and darkness arrives much earlier in the day.

The only good news is that because of how long a typical streetlight should last we will not see the full effects of this for a few years.

Then again maybe those Salt Lake City pedestrians and transit riders should face the same early 20th century conditions that many in the rest of county enjoy. Just remember to carry a big flashlight...