CLEVELAND — For months, people who live and work in downtown Cleveland have called a particular stretch of road a “mockery.”
Dozens of streetlights along Superior Avenue — from East 12th Street to Public Square — have been dark and broken for weeks.
After our initial report on February 12, Cleveland Public Power is responding again — but several of the lights are still out.
RELATED: 'It's a mockery': Residents demand downtown Cleveland street lights get fixed ASAP
Cleveland Public Power says crews investigated the light outages back on January 23 and made repairs that restored power to the light fixtures at the time.
But officials now say the circuit failed again.
Cleveland Public Power released the following statement: "Cleveland Public Power crews investigated problems with streetlights in the area of E. 12th – Public Square on January 23rd and made several repairs which restored power to the light fixtures. Since that time the circuit lost power, and CPP is troubleshooting the possible causes, including potential corrosion damage from salt and snow melt. The safety of our residents is very important and we will continue to investigate this issue until it is resolved."
Since our last report, our Overnight News Tracker has captured several lights on Superior Avenue working again.
But many lights remain dark and out.
Workers and residents previously told News 5 the lack of lighting makes the stretch feel unsafe — especially for people walking in the early morning and evening hours.
“My coworkers walking home — they’re like, it’s so dark, do you want me to come with you?” said Sophia Werner, who works downtown. “I’m used to it, but if that’s how you feel — I’ll walk with you."
Public safety advocates say this isn’t an isolated issue. Robert Carillio has contacted News 5 dozens of times about the ongoing issues.
“It’s not ‘where is it?’ It’s ‘where isn’t it?’” Carillio said. “Surely it can’t only be a few people noticing this because it’s everywhere.”
CPP says crews will continue investigating until the issue is resolved — but as of now, there is no clear timeline for when the remaining outages will be fixed.
We’ll continue pressing for answers and will Follow-Through for the latest.
