Less than two weeks after Scott Lewis reported how copper thieves had sabotaged a $3.2 million dollar LED lighting project on I-94, most of the lights are already back on.
Lewis, the award-winning TV reporter-turned private investigator who writes for WWJ-AM, reports: "This is a welcome surprise since the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) had told me that it would be early summer, at the earliest, before the lights were repaired."
When I reported on this problem in my February 24th blog, I told you that every single light was out between Conner and Cadieux, and there were sporadic outages from Cadieux to Eight Mile Road. MDOT told me at the time that clearing snow and filling potholes would take priority over fixing the brand new LED’s so it would be at least three months before the lights would be working.
That’s why I was surprised when I spotted electrical crews working on the I-94 embankments west of Cadieux last Thursday. I pulled over and snapped a few pictures.
What happened? The Duggan Effect? Power of The Press?
MDOT spokesman Rob Morosi tells Lewis the fix is happening more quickly that expected simply because the contract on the project is still open and the contractor wants to get the job done.
Morosi assures Lewis the repair job will include heavy-duty anti-theft protection.
