ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The city known for the Nights of Lights says many of its streets are being left in the dark.
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St. Augustine is sharing the results of a study reviewing more than 300 street lights in and around downtown, showing some streets aren’t bright enough by city standards. The city says it reviewed the street lights over the last few months and rated mostly poor around the Spanish Quarter and Plaza de la Constitucion.
Some visitors like Karen Schertzedberg, from Canada, are surprised to hear that a city known for being bright is hard to see at night.
“It’s too bad because it is absolutely beautiful down here,” Schertzedberg said, “as a tourist when you visit and it’s well lit up then you feel very safe to walk around and shop and visit the restaurants and bars.”
In its study, the city says the lighting is very poor along the southern end of Cordova Street, as well as the lighting along most of Cathedral Place and King Street.
Sue Johnson, also visiting from Canada, says she’s in the dark about the city’s lighting problem, but will still watch her step.
“Often, I’ll remark and say ‘well, I don’t want to go down that street if it’s too dark’ because I just don’t feel safe enough,” said Johnson.
Action News Jax spoke with the St. Augustine Police Department, asking if there has been a recent uptick in or trend of crime in the areas the city listed as having poor lighting. Police tell us there hasn’t been a spike in crime in the area, but better lighting is still needed because this is the most populated area of the city.
Florida Power and Light, along with the Florida Department of Transportation, help maintain the street lights. The city of St. Augustine wants FPL to add new lights to power poles and make existing lights brighter.
The city will be going over the results of the study in a city commission meeting next Monday, starting at 5:00 PM at the city hall.
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