Freeway lights on 494 (St. Paul, Eagan, Woodbury: vehicles, money, metro area)

[lalife]

Anyone know why the lights are out on the stretch of 494 that is just before South St Paul? Drove it last night and was spooked by how dark it was. Had to really slow down cause my eyes aren't that of a 20 year old anymore.

[golfgal]

Do you mean where they are working on the bridge? My guess is because they are working on the bridge and don't have them hooked up right now? I haven't driven through that area at night for several weeks so I don't remember if they were on or not.

[lalife]

No, it wasn't on the bridge. It was a whole stretch of freeway for a couple of miles.

[golfgal]

I am not sure where you mean then, South St. Paul is along the river so the 2 miles before that would be the bridge an into Woodbury coming from the East. If you mean between Eagan and South St. Paul coming from the west they were ok on Monday morning.

[HKB]

I just drove that stretch last night around midnight, and I've also always wondered why it's so dark on I-494 between I-35E in Eagan and Hwy 52 in IGH. Probably because there are almost no businesses/buildings lining the highway like you see along most other parts of the loop.

[Globe199]

You can report dead freeway lights to MnDOT, like I have done several times. I don't know how seriously they take the complaints, however, because most of the lights I report as dead never get fixed.

[lalife]

Originally Posted by HKB

I just drove that stretch last night around midnight, and I've also always wondered why it's so dark on I-494 between I-35E in Eagan and Hwy 52 in IGH. Probably because there are almost no businesses/buildings lining the highway like you see along most other parts of the loop.

Yes, but the lights are there. They just are not turned on. It is all of the lights in a row, so they are not burned out. Maybe the city is trying to save money?

[huggybear28]

Originally Posted by Globe199

You can report dead freeway lights to MnDOT, like I have done several times. I don't know how seriously they take the complaints, however, because most of the lights I report as dead never get fixed.

For a long segment of highways where the lights are out MnDOT definitely will place the problem on the high priority list. Although most likely they know about it already. If there is just a single light out, my guess is that it is put on an eventual to do list and left to be until there is extra time to complete these tasks. This is done since the surrounding highway lights fill in the gap. MnDOT has just one light repair crew and almost 25,000 highway lights in the metro area to keep up. So it may take awhile for the problem to get fixed.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by lalife

Anyone know why the lights are out on the stretch of 494 that is just before South St Paul? Drove it last night and was spooked by how dark it was. Had to really slow down cause my eyes aren't that of a 20 year old anymore.

It's been like that for a long time.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by lalife

Anyone know why the lights are out on the stretch of 494 that is just before South St Paul? Drove it last night and was spooked by how dark it was. Had to really slow down cause my eyes aren't that of a 20 year old anymore.

You had to slow down on an interstate? What do you do when driving at night on a rural two-lane road?

Not making fun of you, just curious. Interstates aren't exactly obstacle-ridden, and any other vehicles should be well-marked by their own lights.