Resident urges Austin Energy and council to address long-running freeway street-light outages

At the noon public communication period on May 8, Erby Foster, a District 2 resident, urged the council to compel Austin Energy to repair freeway street-light outages more promptly and to change the 3-1-1 ticket process so tickets are not closed before permanent repairs are completed.

Foster told the council he has reported the same outages repeatedly for as long as a year and in some instances for two years, citing knocked-down poles, conduit breaks and wire shorts that he says have not been fixed. He said the department repeatedly closed 3-1-1 requests with notes indicating repairs would be scheduled, but the repairs did not occur. Foster said quick fixes approved by TxDOT — such as running overhead wire to restore lights — were not implemented in a timely way.

“Freeway lights work like Christmas lights,” Foster said. “So when one goes out, they all go out,” and he said outages contribute to dangerous conditions and fatalities on freeway corridors. Foster asked the council’s Austin Energy Oversight Committee to intervene and to stop the practice of closing tickets without remedy.

Mayor Watson and councilmembers acknowledged the comment during the public-comment block; no specific council action was taken during the May 8 meeting, but Foster’s remarks were recorded as part of the public record for follow-up by Austin Energy and the oversight committee.

Ending: Foster asked council to direct staff and the Austin Energy Oversight Committee to ensure 3-1-1 tickets for freeway lighting outages are repaired and not prematurely closed; no staff directive was recorded in the meeting minutes for May 8.