JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Copper wire thieves continue wreaking havoc on Central Mississippi’s interstate lighting system, and the state’s department of transportation continues to be slow to address the issue.
Meanwhile, the absence of light along certain parts of our interstates is putting drivers at risk every night. It’s something even MDOT’s commissioner acknowledged. lighting pole with light
This story marks WLBT’s second investigation into copper wire theft along the Jackson metro interstate system. Our first was in October of 2022, and since then, the problem has only gotten worse.
Documents obtained by 3 On Your Side show every car crash the Department of Public Safety responded to in the most recent years available - 2020 and 2021.
Within those documents are specific details for each crash, such as the location where they occurred, weather conditions, contributing circumstances, and lighting.
Looking at those two years, DPS responded to 181 car crashes along interstates in Hinds County when conditions were clear, no contributing circumstances existed, and the lighting was said to have been, “dark, not lighted.”
Of those nearly 200 accidents, 7 people lost their lives.
When asked whether he feels at all liable for crashes and fatalities that happen in areas of darkness along interstates, Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons replied with the following.
“I wouldn’t say we feel liable. We certainly feel a sense of concern and caring for those individuals in their way of misfortune,” Simmons said. “We have not had any indication that a fatality or an accident has occurred where we were responsible because we had not done something.”
One thing MDOT does not appear to be doing is fixing interstate lights that have been hit by vandals and keeping them on.
In WLBT’s investigation on the issue in the fall of 2022, MDOT’s records showed 164 light poles and underpass lights were in need of repair due to copper wire theft in Hinds County.
Over a year later, that number has increased to 181, and the locations of the outages have hardly changed (changes to 2022′s list reflected in bold).
All of the above outages appear to fall within the state’s most populous city - the capital city.
“We are paying the light bill, and we are maintaining those lights. That’s what we’re doing here in the city of Jackson,” Commissioner Simmons explained. “It just so happens that the city of Jackson has brought on another element and not brought it on because it wanted to, but it just exists. That is the thievery.”
Department of Transportation officials have explained in the past that copper has a good deal of value to it, and thieves know it.
Oftentimes, crooks will hook up their cars to poles, pull them out of the ground, steal the copper wiring inside, and find a scrap metal buyer to sell it to.
Commissioner Simmons admits the issue puts drivers at risk when they go through areas of darkness along the interstate.
It’s a risk 3 On Your Side asked Tonyatta Hairston about, an optometrist at Envision Eye Care and Boutique in Jackson.
“At night, our pupils dilate, which brings more light into our eyes and makes it more difficult to see because of glare or halos. As you’re driving, the lights from the headlights make it more difficult to see because you’re trying to now navigate on a dark piece of the highway,” Hairston said. “Anatomically, it is affecting how you see just based on how our eyes react to light.”
The effect the absence of light has on a driver’s eyes is perhaps one only people in the eye care profession think about.
However, it’s certainly one many have felt as they drive along interstates that run through Jackson, including resident Dean Julius.
“When it’s dark, it’s incredibly hard to see animals until you’re close or they’re within beam shot of your headlights. I would also say with the increase in the homeless population in Jackson, there are people crossing the interstate more frequently. With lighting out, it’s incredibly hard to see those people, and it just makes it much easier for tragedy to happen,” Julius said.
As WLBT’s initial investigation into copper wire theft pointed out, other states have been fighting back against thieves for years to prevent the potential tragedies Julius spoke of.
In Missouri, department of transportation officials started bolting metal boxes to the bottom of some light poles, and in some areas, they placed wiring overhead instead of underground.
Then, in Indiana, officials replaced the copper with metals like aluminum, which aren’t as attractive to thieves. They also increased patrols in areas where thieves would often strike.
But here in Mississippi, Commissioner Simmons says we’re still months away from any preventive measures being put in place.
Just recently, MDOT awarded a contract to Garver Engineering. The firm is tasked with drafting recommendations, plans of action, and cost estimates for a better lighting system.
“We’re asking them to take a look at it and study it and give us a plan on how we can enhance the system from a safety and energy saving point of view and also how we can protect it from the thieves,” Simmons said.
The commissioner estimates the study won’t be completed until the fall, and at that point, MDOT will move toward putting a contract in place that accomplishes the firm’s recommendations.
Simmons says officials hope to not only make it harder for thieves to steal copper wire but possibly more dangerous too.
“We’ll probably increase the voltage when we do that. The purpose of that is not to try and do harm to anyone, but it is to make sure that individuals understand that if they tamper with it, they run the risk of doing harm to themselves. So hopefully, that will help slow that process down,” he said.
The projected timeline is unwelcome news for some residents, including Jennifer Welch who spoke with WLBT in our first investigation into copper wire theft.
“It’s just disappointing that there’s not already a resolution. I understand that there’s a lot of investigation that has to go in before significant capital is involved in improving a system, but we were talking about this 12 months ago,” Welch said. “The fact that we’re still at this planning and investigation phase of the project and not at a point where we are ready to implement is concerning.”
MDOT has made repairs to some areas that have been hit by vandals, only to have the lighting system stripped of its copper wire in a matter of months.
A recent example of that is along I-220 at Highway 80 where nine high-mast light poles are out. According to MDOT, crews made repairs to this controller several months ago and had all but three high-mast poles working.
A few weeks ago, the location was again hit by thieves, which resulted in outages for all nine high-mast light poles.
This area is included in the upcoming upgrade project, according to MDOT officials.
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