Milwaukee Changing Street Lighting Plan

The City of Milwaukee is changing its street lighting plan due to a contractor shortage and a looming federal grant timeline. The Department of Public Works (DPW) intends to switch from an expedited plan to replace the 28 worst-performing light circuits to upgrading to LED lights on newer circuits.

The plan will leave the residents who experience the most frequent light outages in the dark longer while a majority of the city will receive visible lighting upgrades1. The street lighting fee was created in part to put the city on a pathway to fixing the issue.

'I understand the public’s frustration with the new fee at the same time the system visually failed,' said City Engineer Kevin Muhs.

In fall 2021, the Common Council allocated $10 million from its $394.2 million American Rescue Plan Act grant to replace the 13 worst-performing circuits, strings of nearly century-old wiring that hooks street lights together. In 2022, it added $10 million to replace a second group of 16 circuits.