Where are the lights? Street lights on an East El Paso street remain without power for more than a year

EL PASO, Texas -- The city installed street lights on a stretch of Pellicano in east El Paso to beautify and illuminate the roads, but ABC-7 has learned the lights have not been turned on in more than a year.

The light poles, along with landscaping and irrigation, were added to the medians of Pellicano as part of a $7.1 million project by the city. The project also included similar work done to Railroad drive and Cotton street.

Michael Vonasek, the assistant director of construction for the city's capital improvement department, explained the construction of the lights started in late 2020. When asked why it has taken so long to electrify the lights, Vonasek said the project ran into some delays that were pandemic-related, and construction delays, like an improper design for the irrigation system and transformer placement.

Vonasek says the city is in the final process of putting each installed light pole in the streets and maintenance department's inventory. Each pole has to be inventoried so maintenance crews know exactly which poles need work when a problem occurs. Once that is finished, the city will put in a request with El Paso Electric to power the poles. Vonasek predicts the poles will be on in late August.

“We’re a little longer than we expected, but we are wrapping them up. Overall I think it’s going to be a good project," Vonasek said.

Neighbors in the area are frustrated it has taken this long to power the street lights. They say the area is very dark at night, and can make it unsafe for motorists and pedestrians on the road.

Each street in this project was estimated to cost an equal amount, Vonasek said when asked how much the street lights cost on Pellicano.

That means it cost roughly $2.37 million for the street lights, landscaping, and irrigation on Pellicano.