LOUISVILLE, Ky. — You've likely noticed it's been darker than usual driving down many of Kentucky's busiest roadways lately. Hundreds of street lights have been out for weeks, even months.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) said the vast majority of outages is due to thieves cutting out copper wire from the light poles to resell elsewhere.
"Mainly concentrated in Jefferson County and actually mainly concentrated within the Watterson Expressway," KYTC Chief District Engineer for District 5, Matt Bullock, said.
Bullock revealed that 24 interchanges and about 1,400 lights were dark when FOCUS spoke with him. He pointed out that several areas where wires had been replaced were hit by thieves again and again.
So far, Bullock said the total cost of replacing the copper wire, including labor, is about $1 million.
The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) is aware of the ongoing issue, and authorities have been investigating, but LMPD said it could use the public's help by being on the lookout for anything "out of the ordinary."
"If you see an ATV, a personal vehicle, something that does not look like an approved work truck out there, that's when you can call us and let us know," Det. Braden Lammers of the First Division said. "They might hook it up to the ATV and take off and be able to pull a hundred yards of wire instead of pulling a couple feet at a time."
Included in the interchanges which remain dark are the I-64/I-71 split by downtown, the sharp split at I-71 and I-264, as well as I-264 at Shelbyville Road.
"Without the lights on the highway, it's harder to see, becomes a public safety issue, and for the public, this is costing taxpayers money," Lammers said.
Meanwhile, the entire three-plus mile stretch on I-64 from Roy Wilkins Avenue to Bank Street, which includes the rearranged turnoffs due to the Sherman Minton Bridge construction project, is basically a dark hole.
That's in Councilwoman Donna Purvis's district, District 5.
"It's dark, and it's dangerous," Purvis said. "It's scary, if you have impaired vision, and you're getting off the interstate and it's dark and it's raining, I mean it could really cause you to misjudge."
Her message to the thieves: "Come on guys, this is ridiculous."
LMPD said authorities may be close to arresting those responsible for the copper wire thefts.
"We do have some leads that we're following up on right now," Lammers said.
He said whoever is cutting the wire likely knows what they are doing.
"It's probably somebody with at least some knowledge on electrical systems on how they work because they're pulling live wires, chances are you could get shocked, but they know enough that that's not happening or they know how to protect themselves in this case," Lammers said.
KYTC is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and successful prosecution.
The cabinet said past surveillance has been unsuccessful, while anti-theft devices to prevent access to the bottom of the light poles haven't always worked and are quite expensive.
However, this summer, KYTC is planning a pilot program involving solar lighting at two interchanges, including the I-64/I-264 interchange by the Sherman Minton Bridge.
"It's pretty expensive to use solar lights, but with the solar lights, it's an all-inclusive pole with a lighting head LED and a solar panel on top, so there's no wire to steal," Bullock said.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Ohio River in southern Indiana, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) said they haven't been having any problems with copper wire thefts involving light poles.
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