San Francisco Supervisor's Streetlight Legislation Aims To Improve Maintenance, Safety
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener has been beating the drums for better street lighting for years and now he's pushing some legislative changes.
Among the initiatives, Wiener wants to prioritize street lighting for pedestrians out walking at night, switching to LED lights and their maintenance, including their replacement within 48 hours of when they go out.
"Streetlights are very important for a neighborhood quality of life, yet they've been incredibly neglected in San Francisco," said the District 8 supervisor, which represents neighborhoods including the Castro, Noe Valley, Duboce Triangle, Eureka Valley and Diamond Heights.
Part of the problem is because some street lights are owned and maintained by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and some by PG&E. Wiener wants to change that.
"[The legislation] makes it official city policy for the SFPUC to become the owner of all the street lights in the city, in other words to purchase—eventually— PG&E's streetlights," he said.
Wiener did push the SFPUC to spend $5 million a year on street-light maintenance, but he said fundamental changes are needed in the entire system to provide the kind of street lights that the public needs to be safe.