CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- More than two years after city leaders voted to allocate millions of dollars in road money to fix broken interstate lights, several miles of Mecklenburg's highways remain dark.
Council approved more than $6 million in light repairs in January 2008, mostly for broken lamps on the Brookshire Freeway.
A contractor has since completed repairs of lights along of the Brookshire, from I-77 to Independence Boulevard.
Lights were not functioning Thursday evening along several sections of the John Belk Freeway, I-85, and I-77.
Jen Thompson, a spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Transportation, said a contractor continues to diagnose and fix lights on along all of the city's interstates.
About $69,000 has been spent on the work since January, Thompson said, and more than 200 fixtures have been repaired in that time.
Council member Michael Barnes said the broken lights have been a sore subject for city leaders, and engineers have explained there is often no quick fix.
"Every time we’ve brought it up what we’ve been told is there are infrastructure issues and old wiring that needs replacing and there’s not enough funding to do it," Barnes told NewsChannel 36.
Repairs often involve tearing into concrete medians to uncover wiring, some of which has not functioned for years.
In some cases, thieves have broken into control boxes in an attempt to steal copper and other components, Barnes said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Captain Johnny Jennings, commander of the department's North Tryon Division, said engineers have responded quickly when police have asked for repairs of malfunctioning lights.
