I-35 in OKC

[Zuplar]

Won't work here in OK as ODOT can't even keep the overhead illumination going. I can't imaging how many of those bridge lights would go out in a month and not be replaced. For example, the high mast lighting at I44 and Lincoln has been out (mostly) for 15 years!

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Teo9969]

Won't work here in OK as ODOT can't even keep the overhead illumination going. I can't imaging how many of those bridge lights would go out in a month and not be replaced. For example, the high mast lighting at I44 and Lincoln has been out (mostly) for 15 years!

Wouldn't something like overhead illumination be much more susceptible to all sorts of crappy weather that blasts through OK and cause those things to function improperly? At the very least under bridge lighting would be easier to maintain than high mast lighting.

[baralheia]

I'm not entirely sure, but I kinda think that OG&E only replaces light bulbs when they're called out. Nearly all of the under bridge lighting on I-240 from Shields to May was burnt out for at least a year... OG&E fixed it all a day after I called. There are many, many other areas where lighting is dead and nothing seems to happen unless a local resident calls OG&E. I guess they're only responsible for maintenance, not for inspection.

[rte66man]

I'm not entirely sure, but I kinda think that OG&E only replaces light bulbs when they're called out. Nearly all of the under bridge lighting on I-240 from Shields to May was burnt out for at least a year... OG&E fixed it all a day after I called. There are many, many other areas where lighting is dead and nothing seems to happen unless a local resident calls OG&E. I guess they're only responsible for maintenance, not for inspection.

You are correct. Last week I spoke to my mole inside ODOT about the poor status of the overhead illumination. He said exactly what you surmised. OG&E only fixes it if someone calls or emails them about an outage.

[baralheia]

That's kind of infuriating. If OG&E is contractually obligated to maintain the lighting, they really should have an inspector that travels around specifically to look for dead lighting.

You can e-mail them about a street light outage? That would be super useful to have, as I have a long list of spots that need lighting repairs, and doing it over the phone takes a lot of time because they want to write a ticket for each one with you on the line. Is that e-mail address something that you would be able to share?

[SOONER8693]

Is OG&E responsible for the entire state? The reason I ask is this. I have to take my wife, flight attendant for United, to or pick her up occassionaly from Tulsa airport. In most cases it is late at night or very early morning. The same situation exists on the Tulsa highways. Hundreds, maybe thousands of lights not working. Really makes for a dangerous situation in many cases.

[Bunty]

That's kind of infuriating. If OG&E is contractually obligated to maintain the lighting, they really should have an inspector that travels around specifically to look for dead lighting.

If everybody at OG&E gets off work at 5pm, then nobody is in any position to check the lights.

[traxx]

I never would've thought to call OG&E because I would've thought it fell under ODOT's responsibility. Also, shouldn't outages and such be fairly easy to monitor via computer? I wouldn't think that someone would have to physically drive around Oklahoma to see where street lights are out or need replacing.

[Bullbear]

Is OG&E responsible for the entire state? The reason I ask is this. I have to take my wife, flight attendant for United, to or pick her up occassionaly from Tulsa airport. In most cases it is late at night or very early morning. The same situation exists on the Tulsa highways. Hundreds, maybe thousands of lights not working. Really makes for a dangerous situation in many cases.

Was in Tulsa for Oktoberfest Saturday night, the highways around downtown are mostly Dark and dangerous and this is at 10pm. It was so odd. I searched the internet for answers the next day because I wondered why on earth. Turns out they have been crippled with Copper theft. they are saying it could take them up to 6 months to get them operational again.

[stile99]

I never would've thought to call OG&E because I would've thought it fell under ODOT's responsibility. Also, shouldn't outages and such be fairly easy to monitor via computer? I wouldn't think that someone would have to physically drive around Oklahoma to see where street lights are out or need replacing.

Very few light bulbs have the ability to report when they have burned out, and the very few that have that ability are not used in streetlights because as one might expect, they cost considerably more than just a standard bulb. It's not like reporting a streetlight is out is even close to difficult, and OG&E isn't going to send someone out cruising just to see if any have gone out. Nobody suggesting they do so really wants to pay the increased rates to pay the people doing this, pay for the truck they are driving, and pay for the gas they are using.

[TheTravellers]

Very few light bulbs have the ability to report when they have burned out, and the very few that have that ability are not used in streetlights because as one might expect, they cost considerably more than just a standard bulb. It's not like reporting a streetlight is out is even close to difficult, and OG&E isn't going to send someone out cruising just to see if any have gone out. Nobody suggesting they do so really wants to pay the increased rates to pay the people doing this, pay for the truck they are driving, and pay for the gas they are using.

It actually is kind of difficult, as baralheia said, and I've experienced that too - it just takes too long to try to get a person on the phone, then explain it's a streetlight, location, etc.

The cities do that kind of drive-by for burned-out traffic lights, potholes, signs, etc., don't they? So why can't OG&E send someone out at night once a week to drive certain parts of the city, rotating every week so the city gets covered in a certain amount of weeks? I'm pretty sure there's someone on the night shift at some OG&E location somewhere that's not completely occupied every single minute of their shift that could have that added to their job description and it wouldn't cost that much so as to result in a rate increase (although I'd bet OG&E would try to get an increase).

[baralheia]

Very few light bulbs have the ability to report when they have burned out, and the very few that have that ability are not used in streetlights because as one might expect, they cost considerably more than just a standard bulb. It's not like reporting a streetlight is out is even close to difficult, and OG&E isn't going to send someone out cruising just to see if any have gone out. Nobody suggesting they do so really wants to pay the increased rates to pay the people doing this, pay for the truck they are driving, and pay for the gas they are using.

Spread across the entire customer base, the cost to have a few employees do a drive-by inspection on a semi-regular basis would be next to nothing. I'd happily pay that tiny fraction extra to make that happen. Either OG&E, ODOT, or the City really should be doing this; it reflects badly on OKC (and to a lesser extent, ODOT) for so much street and highway lighting to be inoperative.

[stile99]

The cities do that kind of drive-by for burned-out traffic lights, potholes, signs, etc., don't they?

Nope. They rely on reports for that. That's why OKC and many other cities have an app, and/or a section on the city website to report it. Check it out, okc.gov has a large friendly box that says "Report it'. Once there you can report everything you mentioned, traffic lights, potholes, signs, and even the etc. It does refer you to OG&E's number for the street lights, because as mentioned, that's on OG&E. If you want a more convenient way to report it (email, text message, web form) then that suggestion would also go to OG&E. The City of Edmond website has a section as well. Under "How Do I?", choose "Report a Concern" and again, exactly what you mention is there. Traffic lights, potholes, signs, and many other concerns as well...including street lights, Edmond not being OKC. Norman's website has it as well. So does Moore. So does Yukon. The fact is cities are NOT going to pay people to do this, they have outsourced it to citizens, and while one or two people might claim they would be more than happy to pay a couple more dimes to make it happen, if you actually ran a poll and asked people if they would pay an extra quarter per month on their trash bill to have someone drive around reporting lights out, the overwhelming response would be no.

And before anyone says "Well, the meter readers and the cops and the mayor and X and Y and Z could do it", yes. You're right. I'm not going to argue that, they could. And so could you. Like it or not, the city has decided it is going to be you.

[TheTravellers]

^^^ Good to know, I haven't been using the city website much because it's sucked horribly and been less than useful in the past, haven't used the new one much, will have to go through it to see how much less it sucks. Not sure if the "Report It" was there in the old design, I never noticed it, but I'll check it out. And I hope they pay attention to the reports, not just blackhole them like happens so many times in the "contact us" sections of websites.

[baralheia]

^^^ Good to know, I haven't been using the city website much because it's sucked horribly and been less than useful in the past, haven't used the new one much, will have to go through it to see how much less it sucks. Not sure if the "Report It" was there in the old design, I never noticed it, but I'll check it out. And I hope they pay attention to the reports, not just blackhole them like happens so many times in the "contact us" sections of websites.

The City of OKC's Action Center, where you can report issues, is actually really well run. I've reported numerous issues before and had some sort of response within a day or two each time. Good stuff. They also have an app for Android and iOS called "OKC Connect" that lets you report issues via your smartphone, and it works quite well too. The only frustrating part is there's no easy method for reporting a bunch of streetlights that need repairs because of how long the process takes over the phone with OG&E, and they only take calls from 8am to 5pm. OG&E does at least fix the reported issues pretty quickly though.

[traxx]

Nope. They rely on reports for that. That's why OKC and many other cities have an app, and/or a section on the city website to report it. Check it out, okc.gov has a large friendly box that says "Report it'. Once there you can report everything you mentioned, traffic lights, potholes, signs, and even the etc. It does refer you to OG&E's number for the street lights, because as mentioned, that's on OG&E. If you want a more convenient way to report it (email, text message, web form) then that suggestion would also go to OG&E. The City of Edmond website has a section as well. Under "How Do I?", choose "Report a Concern" and again, exactly what you mention is there. Traffic lights, potholes, signs, and many other concerns as well...including street lights, Edmond not being OKC. Norman's website has it as well. So does Moore. So does Yukon. The fact is cities are NOT going to pay people to do this, they have outsourced it to citizens, and while one or two people might claim they would be more than happy to pay a couple more dimes to make it happen, if you actually ran a poll and asked people if they would pay an extra quarter per month on their trash bill to have someone drive around reporting lights out, the overwhelming response would be no.

And before anyone says "Well, the meter readers and the cops and the mayor and X and Y and Z could do it", yes. You're right. I'm not going to argue that, they could. And so could you. Like it or not, the city has decided it is going to be you.

I went to OKC.gov and clicked report it and here's what I got:

Use this Online Service Request to report non-emergency code violations, such as high weeds, abandoned vehicles or other neighborhood problems.

It's not really a code violation so I'm not sure it fits. And I don't think average, Joe citizen knows that OG&E is responsible for replacing and or fixing street lights. I believe that most people think it's a city thing.

Also, in my earlier post, I didn't mean that they should have light bulbs that report when they're burned out. Someone had mentioned about when whole sections of street lights were out and that would seem to be a circuit problem. I would think that that kind of thing would be managed via computer monitoring and thus would be reported via computer monitoring instead of a citizen having to call up.

[stile99]

I went to OKC.gov and clicked report it and here's what I got:

It's not really a code violation so I'm not sure it fits. And I don't think average, Joe citizen knows that OG&E is responsible for replacing and or fixing street lights. I believe that most people think it's a city thing.

Go back and try again, choosing the New Service Request button. There is a dropdown box to choose the type of report. "Streets/traffic lights/drainage is indeed an option, and then the subtype dropdown box is active. Several options are available, including traffic signal malfunction and traffic light timing, pothole, and street marker/traffic sign down, damaged, or missing. And many other options in that subtype field alone, nevermind the almost two dozen other main options (including 'other' which itself has almost a dozen subtypes), which I think more than fulfills the 'etc' requirement.

And again, using that form and choosing OG&E and then OG&E street light outage does indeed inform Joe Citizen that it is not a city thing and gives him the correct contact info. You can even report issues with Cox Cable. OG&E is absolutely OG&E's issue, and it really isn't difficult to see why this is. You may THINK it is a city issue, but it simply isn't. You may THINK the city would be able to take the report, but if you have any experience with unions, any at all, you know that the first commandment is Thou Shalt Stay The Hell Our Of Our Baliwick. The second commandment is We're Not Kidding Buzz Off, and the third is If You Ask One More Time We're Filing A Grievance. Cox has no union preventing the city from taking reports, so the option is there.

[rte66man]

Go back and try again, choosing the New Service Request button. There is a dropdown box to choose the type of report. "Streets/traffic lights/drainage is indeed an option, and then the subtype dropdown box is active. Several options are available, including traffic signal malfunction and traffic light timing, pothole, and street marker/traffic sign down, damaged, or missing. And many other options in that subtype field alone, nevermind the almost two dozen other main options (including 'other' which itself has almost a dozen subtypes), which I think more than fulfills the 'etc' requirement.

And again, using that form and choosing OG&E and then OG&E street light outage does indeed inform Joe Citizen that it is not a city thing and gives him the correct contact info. You can even report issues with Cox Cable. OG&E is absolutely OG&E's issue, and it really isn't difficult to see why this is. You may THINK it is a city issue, but it simply isn't. You may THINK the city would be able to take the report, but if you have any experience with unions, any at all, you know that the first commandment is Thou Shalt Stay The Hell Our Of Our Baliwick. The second commandment is We're Not Kidding Buzz Off, and the third is If You Ask One More Time We're Filing A Grievance. Cox has no union preventing the city from taking reports, so the option is there.

I always wondered why there was a difference. Thanks for the explanation.

[traxx]

It's going to take out of the box thinking to beautify I-35. Since this is a site for discussion, we can spitball all kinds of thoughts and ideas here.

[baralheia]

One last post on electronically submitting repair requests for lighting to OG&E: I contacted customer service and they said that you can e-mail them a list of streetlights needing repairs and, once they've created the repair tickets, they'll e-mail you back with the ticket numbers. The e-mail they said to use is CUSTCAREDEPT@oge.com.

[traxx]

Another thing about the appearance of our city is how dark it looks at night. I was driving north on 235 last night and noticed how dark downtown and the surrounding areas looked. I don't know what the solution is, but having the city more lit up would make it appear more lively as well.

[zefferoni]

Is OG&E responsible for the entire state? The reason I ask is this. I have to take my wife, flight attendant for United, to or pick her up occassionaly from Tulsa airport. In most cases it is late at night or very early morning. The same situation exists on the Tulsa highways. Hundreds, maybe thousands of lights not working. Really makes for a dangerous situation in many cases.

Tulsa area would be PSO/AEP or one of the electric coops.

[rte66man]

One last post on electronically submitting repair requests for lighting to OG&E: I contacted customer service and they said that you can e-mail them a list of streetlights needing repairs and, once they've created the repair tickets, they'll e-mail you back with the ticket numbers. The e-mail they said to use is CUSTCAREDEPT@oge.com.

Just sent them a request to fix the lights at I-44 and Lincoln. I'll post the results when I get them.

[rte66man]

The reply I got:

We sent work order 900808182 regarding your request below. Also, in the future and to better assist you, if you could submit your phone number in addition to your request, this would assist our service crews in contacting you if there are any questions.

Thanks,
OGE Online Services

---------------------------------------------------------------

Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2016 6:22 PM
To: CUST CARE DEPT
Subject: Streetlight Outages

The following streetlights are out:

I-44 eastbound (south side) between I235 and Lincoln Blvd.
High mast lights at I44 and Lincoln. The 2 masts on Lincoln are 3-light assemblies. Only one of the lights on each are working.

[traxx]

Well I'm so glad that this thread has quickly derailed into 'how to report burnt out lights' instead of how to make the view from the interstate more appealing. Mind you that plenty of interstate travelers come through in the daytime as well.