ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque is suing the company that manufactured the lights along the Albuquerque Rapid Transit bus routes, citing they’re falling off. The lawsuit states the 25-pound lights are falling from their posts and posing a threat to the public.
“If you’re walking down the road or getting off the bus, and a light falls, that could be a problem,” said Michael Sanchez, who says he rides the ART bus every day.
The lawsuit says ill-fitting screws and other things, allowed the fixture to move, causing the lights to fall. As of last week, at least 46 streetlights had fallen. The city is asking for more than $12 million from Environmental Lighting from Architecture Inc. to offset repair costs. We reached out to ELA Inc. who says they’re working with the city to solve the problem, however, they claim the city modified the lights against their advice, voiding the warranty.
KRQE News 13 also spoke with the C.O.O of Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, one of the other contractors on the lawsuit. They say they shouldn’t be part of the lawsuit because they had no involvement with the lighting along the ART route. Bradbury Stamm is also named in the suit. They did not return calls for comment.
Contractors installed about 1,000 streetlights from Coors to Louisiana, as part of the ART project. The city will either retrofit or replace all of them. There have been no reported injuries from the falling lights. The city began ART service in November of 2019.
Full Lawsuit below:
ste
