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I-20 OUT THERE? JON. WELL, GUY IN 2023, IRONDALE MAYOR WAS HOPEFUL THAT THE FOUR MILE STRETCH OF I-20 HERE WOULD BE SHINING BRIGHT WITHIN A YEAR. BUT LIKE MANY POCKETS HERE IN JEFFERSON COUNTY, THE SOLUTION IS COMING SLOWER THAN EXPECTED. LIGHT DOES NOT WORK. FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS, WE’VE BEEN TRACKING THE NUMBER OF NON-WORKING INTERSTATE LIGHTS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY. OUR UNOFFICIAL TALLY TOPPED 1000, INCLUDING 200 HERE IN IRONDALE. IN 2023. WE SAT DOWN WITH MAYOR JAMES STEWART. AT THE TIME, HE HOPED THE PROBLEM WOULD BE FIXED WITHIN A YEAR. THE CITY OF IRONDALE IS GOING TO BE A VERY BRIGHT CITY. TWO YEARS LATER, THE LIGHTS ARE STILL OUT, STEWART TELLS US. ALDOT UNCOVERED 12 ZONES POWERING THE LIGHTS NEEDED REWIRING. THEY REALIZED THAT THERE IS A CONTROL CENTER THAT IS ATTACHED TO EACH SECTION OF THE HIGHWAY THAT PROVIDE POWER TO THE POLES AND THOSE CONTROL CENTERS WERE NOT WORKING. REGIONAL ALDOT ENGINEER JARVIS LEONARD SAYS THEY WILL TACKLE ONE ZONE AT A TIME. OUR GOAL IS TO GET POWER TO ALL THE ZONES, AND ONCE WE GET THE POWER TO ALL THE ZONES, THE LIGHTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY UP, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND GET THOSE FUNCTIONING FROM THERE. ALABAMA POWER WILL INSTALL NEW LIGHT FIXTURES AT THE CITY’S EXPENSE AND ILLUMINATE I-20’S PATH THROUGH IRONDALE. ONCE AGAIN. IT’S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT. CITIZENS IN IRONDALE HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING FOR YEARS ABOUT HOW DARK IT IS, BUT IRONDALE IS NOT THE ONLY SECTION OF JEFFERSON COUNTY INTERSTATE SITTING IN THE DARK. TAKE THESE LIGHTS ON I-459 FOR EXAMPLE. WE CARRIED OUT OUR OWN INFORMAL INVENTORY ON ROUGHLY 100 NOT WORKING BETWEEN HIGHWAY 280 AND LIBERTY PARK STREET FOR STATE, TWO THIRDS BELONG TO THE STATE. HOW DO WE KNOW THE BOTTOM LETTERS ON EACH LIGHT POLE? LEONARD REALIZES THERE ARE POCKETS OF AGING HIGHWAY LIGHTING. THEY MUST FIX. ALDOT IS COMMITTED TO GETTING SIGNAL. GET THE LIGHTS BACK UP AND FUNCTIONING THROUGHOUT THE REGION. SOME LIGHTS ARE THEIRS, WHILE OTHERS, LIKE THESE IN IRONDALE, ARE THE CITY’S RESPONSIBILITY. WE NEED TO EITHER GET THEM ALL UP OR DON’T HAVE THEM UP. AND MAYOR STEWART BELIEVES BY THIS SUMMER, I-20 THROUGH HIS CITY WILL BE A BRIGHTER BEACON OF HOPE FOR THE REST OF THE REGION. IT MAY BE NOW 30 TO 45 DAYS THAT THERE WILL BE LIGHT IN IRONDALE. HE EXPECTS IT TO TAKE ANOTHER YEAR TO GET ALL 200 LIGHTS TURNED BACK ON. NOW, MORE GOOD NEWS ON THE HIGHWAY LIGHTING FRONT. LEONARD TELLS ME THAT ONCE THE I-59 WIDENING PROJECT OVER IN TRUSSVILLE IS WRAPPED UP SOMETIME NEXT YEAR, THE 100 BUSTED LIGHTS THAT WE HAVE FOUND THERE WILL ALSO BE REPLACED. LIVE I