Lights Out on Charlotte Area Interstates

CHARLOTTE, NC — Lots of lights on Charlotte area interstates just don’t work. You can hit stretches of Interstate 77, the John Belk Freeway and I-85 where most of the the lights are out.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has been trying to turn them back on for three years, and WCCB Charlotte has learned the money is finally there for a fix.

“All together it’s changing out over 10,000 lights across the state,” says NCDOT spokesperson Jen Thompson. “This area, the Charlotte area, about 2,100 lights.”

NCDOT has been trying to find a fix for hundreds of broken lights on Charlotte area interstates since 2014.

“We’d like to see everything lit up,” says Tiffany Wright with AAA of the Carolinas. “I mean the more light the safer.”

75% of the driving we do is during daylight hours. But more than half of traffic fatalities come at night.

Wright says the lack of light on some Charlotte interstates is a safety concern.

“Dark interstates can be very dangerous for motorists,” explains Wright. “So I hope, our hope at AAA, deciding on the traffic safety issue of it, is that those bulbs will be replaced.”

Roadway lighting can prevent injuries and save lives. Studies show nighttime crashes can be reduced as much as 40% with proper lighting present.

But many of Charlotte’s older single or double-arm lights, which were installed in the 80’s and 90’s, have reached life expectancy. On sections of I-77 approaching Uptown, where this type of light is in the median, or on the side of the road, 71% of these older fixtures are out.

NCDOT’s Thompson says they will be replaced with new technology.

“LED lights that are easier to maintain, and they are more cost effective,” says Thompson. “It’s a $30 million contract that is actually going to probably end up saving us, over the course of 15 years, probably over $56 million.”

Current state regulations only require lighting at interstate interchanges and ramps, which have higher accident rates, with newer, high-mast halo light poles. But all the older, existing lighting in the Charlotte area will be improved. And the new lighting will be more cost effective, and easier to maintain.

“We’re going to have to have a contractor be able to monitor how these lights are performing,” continues Thompson. “Meaning they’re going to have to maintain a percentage of them being on consistently, performing consistently.”

Safety studies rely on crash data, but most crash databases do not include comprehensive lighting information.

Wright would like to see more studies done to target problem areas that may need better lighting.

“When you’re looking at where you are going to put these lights, it’s important to look at exactly these locations,” says Wright. “Look do these locations, do they have a high risk of collisions? Do they have a high risk collisions with injuries? Do they have a high fatality rate?”

Thompson says contractors are wrapping up high-mast lighting replacements, and will start work on roadway lighting next. That may require some lane and ramp closures at night.

The work could wrap up by next fall.