EAST POINT, Ga.,None — A south Fulton County's man's effort to get street lights repaired along a dark stretch of Camp Creek Parkway is hitting delays and government red tape.
Michael McCarthy says there are more than 80 street lights in place along Camp Creek Parkway between Interstate 285 and Welcome All Road, but only one is actually working.
"All I'm asking for is light. It sounds comical," McCarthy told Channel 2's Tony Thomas on Wednesday. "We are not asking for light poles, we are asking for lightbulbs."
McCarthy and his wife moved into the area a year and a half ago and he's been pushing city and state leaders to fix the problem ever since.
McCarthy said his wife works odd hours in downtown Atlanta and frequently has to commute in the middle of the night. East Point city officials recently earmarked $125,000 to replace lightbulbs and replace missing wiring and transformers, but so far, not a single pole has been touched.
"You would think it would be simple, but it's been far more difficult than we anticipated," said East Point Council Member Clyde Mitchell.
Mitchell told Thomas the city recently discovered it needs a state permit for the work but there’s been no approval, so no lights.
Mitchell said the state just gave approval for maintenance work but there will be no lights until the city has permits.
"The hope is the maintenance will help us begin the easy work, but it will not solve the problems of getting some of the lights turned on."
At one point, the city was so confident it would fix the lighting quickly that a sign went up announcing the project along the side of Camp Creek Parkway. Now, weeks later, the sign still stands in the dark along the road.
Mitchell said he hopes the state permits will come within the next couple of weeks and the city hired vendor can begin work.
No one from the Georgia Department of Transportation could be reached for comment.
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WSBTV
