Inconsistent street lighting leaves North Omaha residents concerned

NORTH OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Anthony Kellogg owns the 365 building at 39th Street and Ames Avenue. Although there’s streetlights around, he’s tired of walking into the dark.

“It doesn’t look welcoming. Sometimes I pull up to my own block and I get scared sometimes,” Kellogg said.

He said inconsistent street lighting has been a problem for years.

“It’s like the roll of the dice. One day they’re on, one day they’re off. One week they’re on, one week they’re off,” Kellogg told 6 News. “So it’s like a game and I want to know who’s behind the game.”

Kellogg said he also noticed impacts from late July storms.

“I mean, we’re pretty good about getting power back on to homes but then the lights, they’re never as high of a priority and so there’s a lot out right now,” said Todd McLochlin with OPPD.

According to McLochlin, the lights on Ames are on a system that turns them on or off all at once for easy maintenance. However, lingering storm damage is interfering with the way the lights work.

“The downside to that is it makes more susceptible to trees and things like that interfering with service. So when the system does trip, it’ll take out a string of lights and so that’s what you’re seeing,” He told 6 News.

OPPD is planning to get things fixed so Kellogg and others can feel safe again.

“We will be going through and replacing even more of that, hopefully all of it with insulated wire,” said McLochlin.

OPPD is planning to work on that stretch of Ames this winter after leaves fall from the trees, That way it will be easier for them to work around it.

If you’re having problems with streetlights in your area, you can report it to OPPD.

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