New Orleans Plans to Fix Streetlights

New Orleans hopes to have every streetlight in the city back on by the end of the year.

The city says there are about 10,900 streetlights not working and 4,793 of those are in need of repairs.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu said “lighting up the city” will make the city safer.

Jon Johnson, city councilman for eastern New Orleans, says many residents are afraid to leave their homes at night because of broken lighting.

The mayor says workers have fixed about 16,000 streetlights since he took office. The city owns about 54,400 streetlights.

The repairs are being paid with $8 million in federal rebuilding money and with about $1 million left over in the city’s general fund. The city says Hurricane Katrina damaged wiring in many lights, making the repairs costly.