Photo by David Leong.
Unlit light poles at the U.S. 31 exit off I-65.
If you’re driving on Interstate 459 or Interstate 65 in or around Vestavia Hills at night, there’s a good chance you’ll be driving in the dark.
The vast majority of the interstate streetlights are not working. Vestavia Hills officials are trying to do something about it, but it’s a tall task fraught with challenges, officials said.
Photos by David Leong.
Traffic flows along I-459 in an unlit section of road near Liberty Parkway.
On I-459, between U.S. 280 and the Liberty Park exit, there were 96 light poles without working lights in early September. There were some lights working at the intersection of I-459 and U.S. 280, but only two light poles between U.S. 280 and Liberty Parkway had working lights. Between U.S. 280 and I-65, there were at least eight lights out on I-459.
On I-65, there were 10 lights out between I-459 and U.S. 31 and 44 lights out between U.S. 31 and Alford Avenue.
“I’ve heard from a lot of constituents who are upset that it’s so dark,” Vestavia Hills Councilwoman Kimberly Cook said.
Of course, public safety is the primary concern, Cook said.
“There’s no doubt that if you have better lighting on interstates, especially in areas where there are lots of accidents, like for instance the Liberty Park exit, that having lighting is going to help that,” she said.
But there’s also the broken windows concept, she said. “Anytime you have things that don’t work in public places, it creates a bad impression and invites crime.”
Cook raised the issue during a City Council strategic planning session, and city staff began working to find a solution. But what they found is that the issue is much more complicated than many people realize.
Photos by David Leong.
An unlit light pole at the Alford Ave exit off I-65.
“It’s not just a matter of bulbs being out,” said Lori Beth Kearley, the public services director for Vestavia Hills.
Sometimes, poles get knocked down. Other times, it’s a problem with the wiring, a fuse, a ballast or other electrical equipment, or it could be a problem with the power source sending electricity to the light pole. The age of the lighting infrastructure along the interstates is a big factor, Kearley said.
But perhaps the biggest challenge is how maintaining the interstate lights is not the responsibility of a single entity, said Jeff Downes, Vestavia Hills’ city manager.
Years ago, the Alabama Department of Transportation turned over maintenance of interstate lights to the various jurisdictions where the lights are, Downes said. And that can get complicated quickly with the way municipal boundaries weave around one another and along the interstates.
On I-459, between Liberty Park and I-65, the jurisdictions include Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Birmingham, Hoover and unincorporated Jefferson County. On I-65, between I-459 and Alford Avenue, it’s mostly Vestavia Hills or Hoover.
Jon Paepcke, ALDOT’s communications coordinator for the east-central region of the state, which includes the Birmingham area, shared a statement from the agency that interstate lighting in the Birmingham metro area is a patchwork system.
Photos by David Leong.
On Sept. 7, there were 44 streetlights out on Interstate 65 between Alford Avenue and U.S. 31, counting both sides of the interstate.
“Much of it was added decades after the original system was built, often at the request of local governments,” the ALDOT statement said. “In fact, cities accepted long-term maintenance responsibilities when they asked for these improvements — a common, deliberate practice nationwide.”
“Today, while ALDOT is solely responsible for maintaining some of the interstate lighting, primarily in the unincorporated areas, most of the lights were installed inside city limits,” ALDOT said. “We prioritize repairs to state-owned fixtures when we are made aware of issues in those locations. The system overall faces serious challenges: aging infrastructure, vandalism and copper theft.”
One of the big challenges that cities face is figuring out and keeping up with who is responsible for which light poles and how to cooperate to tackle problems that involve multiple jurisdictions, Downes and Kearley said.
“Without having information about who is responsible for what poles, as poles got knocked down or various things have happened to the infrastructure, no one’s put them back up. No one has gone out and done these repairs, and over time, it’s just become more and more of an issue because of not knowing who is responsible,” Kearley said. “I think clearing that up is obviously the first step.”
Vestavia Hills city employees have done their own inventory of the light poles along I-459 and I-65 and determined that fewer than 10 are the responsibility of Vestavia Hills, Downes said.
But Alabama Power Co., which has much more expertise with light poles, has agreed to do an independent inventory that can serve as a resource for all the jurisdictions to help each of them identify what poles are their responsibility and collaborate to solve problems, Downes said.
Photos by David Leong.
An unlit section of I-459 near Liberty Parkway.
Sometimes, poles in one jurisdiction are connected to poles in another jurisdiction, and a break in the wiring or a problem with a power source can kill the entire network, Kearley said.
“What happens at a Vestavia pole could impact what happens in Hoover or Birmingham or vice versa,” Kearley said. “There is overlap in the municipal limits regarding the service centers that are servicing these light poles. One side of the interstate is Hoover, and the other side is Vestavia. You may have two in a row that are Hoover and then Vestavia and then Hoover again. If those are all coming off the same service, that’s where it gets complex. If somebody hits a pole in Vestavia, it can affect the lights in Hoover, too, or vice versa.”
Because Vestavia has the fewest number of interstate lights compared to others, it’s going to require collaboration sometimes to get the lights working again, Downes said. Figuring out what the problem is, what the solution should be and who all should pay to fix it can be complex, especially when different jurisdictions have varying financial resources and different priorities, Downes said. “That’s what we’re trying to work through.”
Alabama Power in mid-September was still in the process of developing its inventory of the interstate light poles and the problems affecting each one, Kearley said.
John Anthony, Hoover’s traffic engineer, and Eddie Pickett, Hoover’s senior traffic signal technician who also keeps an eye on interstate lights, said they had not heard from Alabama Power yet about the multi-jurisdictional effort but would be happy to work with the power company on that.
Pickett said it’s his understanding that Hoover is responsible for lights on I-459 between I-65 and Galleria Boulevard and on I-65 between Valleydale Road and U.S. 31, as well as some at the intersection of I-65 and Alford Avenue. But he didn’t think Hoover was responsible for any between Alford and U.S. 31 on either side of the interstate.
He and Anthony said they try to keep track of lights that aren’t working and fix problems as they become aware of them. The city hires an electrical contractor to do the work.
Vestavia Hills, working with Alabama Power, in the past six months has been able to make much more progress on other streetlight projects, officials said. All the streetlights in the Buckhead community have been upgraded to LED lights, and the city in mid-September was close to finishing a project to upgrade pedestrian lights in the public rights of way adjacent to the Vestavia Hills City Center shopping center along U.S. 31, Downes said.
The problems with interstate lighting extend far beyond the borders of Vestavia Hills. There were at least 34 interstate lights out on I-65 between Alford Avenue and downtown Birmingham in early September and 38 more lights out between Interstate 59/20 and Fultondale.
ALDOT has consistently offered to partner 50-50 with cities to replace outdated systems, with locally controlled federal funds available for local shares, the statement from ALDOT said.
“That’s a strong and generous commitment of state resources,” the statement said. “Some surrounding states do not follow this practice.”
Currently, ALDOT is partnering with Birmingham to replace all the lighting along I-59 from 66th Street North to I-459. The agency expects to approve a contract for the work by the end of the year and begin the project early in 2027.
“This is a shared responsibility, and ALDOT remains committed to being a proactive partner,” the statement said. “We’re optimistic about the new momentum and ongoing conversations with local governments to improve lighting in the region.”
