Indianapolis ends 35-year ban on city-funded streetlights

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indianapolis has ended its 35-year ban on new city-funded streetlights with a push to improve public safety by adding 100 new streetlights in areas with high accident and crime rates.

Mayor Joe Hogsett on Thursday kicked off the installation of the new streetlights, which will also be erected in growing neighborhoods.

Indianapolis Power & Light Company says the city will pay for the new streetlights through savings stemming from a recent utility rate case approved by state regulators.

Hogsett recently signed an executive order ending the city's longtime streetlight moratorium.

The Indianapolis Business Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1UG8pEq ) that moratorium was put in place in 1981 as a money-saving measure.

Indianapolis has 92,000 streetlights, but most are paid for privately. The city spends $5 million a year to light about 29,000 streetlights.

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Information from: Indianapolis Business Journal, http://www.ibj.com