Streetlights on a stretch of Highway 680 in east San Jose are still out.
“It’s not only the lights lighting the road but also the lights lighting the actual signs for the exits that are out, and those signs haven’t been lit up for months,” said Kamille Reddy, who drives this stretch often.
Caltrans said it was the work of thieves who were stealing the wire from its pull boxes along the road – but seven months later, the lights are out again.
Caltrans reports they were repaired in the spring but were recently vandalized.
Reddy says she never noticed them working after the first time.
In an email sent to NBC Bay Area Friday, Caltrans said, “Based on what our Caltrans Maintenance crews have found, it has been noted that yes, someone has taken out the aluminum from the service and pull boxes which has caused an outage. We are currently working on a solution.”
Reddy worries not having the lights on will cause a crash.
“If they can fix it before it starts getting shorter daylight hours, that would be best because there are more people on the road, people are returning to the offices, coming home late,” Reddy said.
Wire thefts are not new in San Jose or in California; in fact, the city has an interactive map showing reported streetlights that are out because of wire theft, and the ones that have been fixed.
NBC Bay Area asked Caltrans if this is an ongoing problem on its highways or just isolated to this area but hasn’t heard back.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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